Parenthood is so starting over again
by Blak-Ice
Summary: What happens when Max leaves on a food run, and returns to see that her flock has been turned back into kids? How will Max deal with being a single parent for a whole year? Read to find out!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: "What the hell!?"

**Max's Pov**

"Ok guys. I'm goin to the store to pick up some food. Stay here, and Fang's in charge." I said, leaving the hotel room. We were stay in a hotel for a couple of days to relax. We were still on the run from the School, and were currently in Chicago, the windy city!

We found the first hotel we could, and decided to stay here for the night since Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel were all complaining that they were tired. When we got our room, and saw the view off the city, they begged me to let us stay longer. I was all ready to say no, when, BAM! I got triple Bambi eyed. I looked at Fang, who wasn't any help either. He just gave me the 'you're the leader, so you deal with them' look.

"Ok, ok. Just stop the Bambi eyes already." I said to them. They all cheered, and hugged me.

"Wow Max. I didn't think you were that soft." Iggy said, laughing at me. Now since he's blind, there was no point in glaring at him, so I grabbed his arm, and twisted it behind his back, and tripped him to the floor.

"Who's soft now Iggy?" I asked as he cringed in pain. "Tap out, tap out!" I cheered. He tapped his hand on the floor three times, and I released him.

"Ow. Damn Max, I was just kidding." He said, rubbing his arm.

"Hey, watch the language, or I'll kick your skinny butt so hard, you won't be able to sit for a week." I said, sitting on the bed. I was big on the whole 'no swearing' thing. Especially with Angel. One time, I heard her yell "Fuck you!" to Gazzy, and I almost had a heart attack. I mean, she's 6! Where could she have heard that? From Fang and Iggy. So now, I'm super strict about swearing.

We turned the TV on, and started watching "Ice Age", when Nudge came over to me, and said, "Max, I'm hungry. Can we order room service?"

"Absolutely not!" I said, getting up from the bed. "Do you know how much it cost to order room service? I'll just got to the store, and pick up a few things." I went to my backpack, and pulled out the Max Card.

"But Max, the store doesn't sell Lobster, or Steak-" Gazzy said, looking at the room service menu.

"Or ice cream sundae's" Angel added.

"I said no! And don't ask me again, or we're leaving tomorrow morning. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am." The three of them said sadly, returning to their seats.

So now you're all caught up. I stepped out onto the balcony, and jumped over the railing. I fell for a couple of feet before snapping my wings out. As I flew through the night sky, something hit me. "Where the hell am I supposed to find a grocery store in the middle of freakin Chicago?"

**Angel's POV**

_Max is so mean. _I thought to Nudge and Gazzy. Both nodded their heads in agreement. I looked over at Fang and Iggy. Iggy was listening to the movie, but Fang was watching us, intensely! I felt so weird. It was like he could tell what I was thinking. So that's what Max was talking about.

"Angel, what did you just tell them?" Fang asked, staring me down.

"Nothing…" I said, using my innocent little smile that he could never resist.

"Nice lie. Now, what did you tell them?" Well, it _almost_ always works.

"That Max was mean…." I whispered, looking down at the ground.

"Just cause she wouldn't let you guys order room service?" I chuckled. I nodded my head. "You guys should be glad Max is here to take care you. I mean, think about it. She's been taking care of all of you guys since you were babies. She's only doing what's best for all of you. She sees you guys like her children." Fang was lecturing us!? He never lectured us! This was serious.

"Yea, but just cause she see us as her babies, doesn't mean that she has to treat us like babies." Gazzy said.

"Yea!" Nudge and I agreed.

"That's because we never had anyone to care of us." Oh. We never thought about that. When they were kids, they were at the School. They never had anyone to take care of them until Jab saved us. Then, when Jeb left us, she took over as the "legal guardian" of all of us.

"Maybe you're right." I said. Walking over to Fang. "I'm sorry I said those things bout Max." I said as I hugged him. _But that doesn't mean that she's not mean. _I thought to Nudge and Gazzy, who agreed again.

"Speaking of which," Iggy said, "I kinda wish I could be a kid again. Just for like, a day. You know?" he asked Fang.

"I hear ya. I wish we could go back to being kids for a day, and have a normal day with no Erasers, no white coats, nothing but peace and quiet."

" I wish I could go back to being a 5 year old." Nudge said. "I think that was when I was cutest."

"I wish I could be 4 years old again." Gazzy said. "All I did was play in the mud, and get dirty. Now that was the life."

"I wanna go back to being a 2 year old!" I said. "All I did was play, and nap. I really liked it when I got to nap in Max's bed with her."

We spent another half hour, talking about how we all wished to be kids again. Then, we heard a voice on the other side of the door. "Be careful what you wish for!" An Eraser kicked the door in, and threw some kind of bomb into our room. Now our first reaction was to get out of the room. We all headed for the balcony as Fang tried to slide the door open.

"It's locked!" he said, trying to break the glass. Just as he broke the glass, the bomb went off, releasing a paralyzing gas that caused all of us to numb up. Then, it clicked, and released another spray of gas. This one most have been sleeping gas, cause everyone's minds started to drift into a deep sleep.

"Hang on guys…"Fang said to us. "Max'll be back soon…she'll take care of this…." And we were all out cold.

**Max's POV**

I finally found a store by a highway exit. I was high above the city, carrying 6 plastic bags full of groceries for the flock to eat. "Damn. I gotta remember to get lighter food next time I go food hunting for these kids." As I descended from the clouds, and approached the balcony, I saw that the glass was broken. "Oh my god!" I shouted. I landed on the balcony, and ran through the broken window.

I was expecting to see my flock missing, kidnapped by Erasers, and hauled away to the School. I ran inside, and saw something hiding under the covers of one of the beds. I instantly got into fight mode. I slowly walked over to the bed, cautious of whatever it was that was hiding under the covers. I stepped carefully, avoiding the clothes lying on the floor. I pulled the covers back, and stepped back, ready to fight.

My mouth dropped open when I saw what was under the covers. There was my flock, but they weren't my flock. They were kids! My flock, were kids again. " What the hell!?" I walked up to them, and was about to wake them, when the voice kicked in.

_Max. Do not wake them. Let them sleep. _

Hello voice. So nice to see you again. To what do I owe this pleasure?

_They were ambushed. There was nothing they could do. They haven't even realized that this has happened._

They haven't realized it happened? How the hell would you not notice that you were turned into a freaking kid!?

_If you were stunned, and then put to sleep._

Oh. Well that does make some sense. I never really thought about it that way. So what am I supposed to do?

_It's another test Max. They are trying to test your skills as a parent. _

How long are they gonna be stuck like this?

_For one year. They will remain this way for one year, then they will return to normal._

So what am I supposed to do now?

…….

Nothing. Great. Just freakin great. I looked at my little flock, as they all shivered from the cold. That's when it hit me. They were too small to fit in their clothes now. I walked over to their backpacks, and took the blankets we had bought a couple days ago. Each was the favorits color of it's owner.

I wrapped Iggy in his green blanket, and laid him on the opposite bed. Green was his favorite color cause that was his eye color before he lost his sight. I then wrapped Gazzy in his red blanket. He liked red cause it reminded him of fiery explosions. I rolled my eyes when I thought about it. I then picked up Angel, and wrapped her in her pink blanket. She just like pink cause it was a "cute color" in her opinion. I put her on the bed with Iggy and Gazzy. I puicked up Nudge next, and put her under her purple blanket. It was her favorite color cause it was a calm, cooling color, and always made her feel calmer. Yea, ok. I picked up Fang last.

I held him in my arms for a couple of seconds. He still looked like the tough, little silent, emo, badass bird kid I knew and loved. I took out the black blanket, and wrapped him in it. I kissed them all on their foreheads as they laid next to each other on the bed. I walked back toward the balcony, and used my blanket to cover the broken glass. When I turned around, I found the cause of all this madness. A bomb. I picked it up carefully, and chucked it over the balcony.

I returned to the room, closed the door, turned the light out, and laid in the empty bed. I had to think of a plan. I had to think of how I was going to take care of everyone by myself. I slowly started to drift off to sleep. But as I did, one thing was clear: tomorrow was going to be a living hell.

_**Hey guys. dt2009 here. So as I was goin 2 bed last night, I was thinkin bout my grade school, and how much I wished I could be a kid again. Now don't get me wrong. I love bein a teen. But it can be complicated sometimes. As I was thinkin all this, my brain stormed!...lol…funny, right? Anyway, I thought: what if the flock was turned into kids again, and Max was left to take care of them? What if it was a test of her ability to take care of others, but as a parent. So I hope you enjoy it, and if you've read my previous stories, then you know what's next:**_

_**Remember: Keep reading, writing, and reviewing!**_

_**Later!**_

_**-dt2009**_


	2. Chapter 2:Now What?

Chapter 2: Now what?

I woke earlier then my mini flock so I could make them breakfast. Now I don't wanna hear anything about my cooking. I know I can't cook, ok? That's why I laid out the groceries that I bought yesterday at the store.

As if on cue, Iggy yawned, and woke up. _Ok Max. This is it. _I thought to myself. I walked over to the bed as he stood on it. "Morning Max." he yawned. "You're up kinda earl-" Then he stopped talking. "Max, I can see you…." He said.

"You can?" I asked. That's when I remembered that he didn't lose his sight til we were a little older.

"Yea! Hey, did you get taller?" he asked. "And why is it so cold in here?"

I swallowed hard. "No Ig. I didn't get taller. You got shorter. Iggy, you're a kid again."

He looked at me with a confused look, and then started laughing like crazy. "Yea right. Good one Max."

"Iggy. I'm serious. Hop off the bed."

He shrugged his shoulders, and jumped off. He then looked back up at me. His eyes grew wide. I then picked him up, and took him into the bathroom. I stood him up on the counter in front of the mirror. "Look at you Iggy. You're a 4 year old again."

Iggy just stood there for a minute. He looked like he was about to cry. "Ok." He said in a low voice. "Let me get this straight. I'm 4 years old again, and I'm standing naked in front of a mirror." I shook my head up and down. "Max, how did this happen!?" he shrieked before he broke down, and started crying.

I picked him up, and sat on the lid of the toilet. I held him tight as he cried into my shoulder. "I'm sorry Ig. It happened last night."

His eyes shot open. "I remember now. We were all talking about how we wished we could be kids again, when an Eraser kicked the door in, and threw a bomb into the room. We tried to get the balcony door open, but it was locked, so Fang started breaking the glass. By the time he broke it, the bomb released some type of gas that paralyzed us, then the next thing I know, we were all sleeping."

"I know. I found the bomb on the floor when I came back. I chucked it out the window."

"But Max, what are we gonna do? I don't wanna be like this forever. I liked being a teenager."

"The voice told me that you guys are only gonna be this way for a year." I said, trying to make it better. Boy, was I wrong.

"A year!" Iggy yelled.

"Keep it down! You'll everyone else up!"

"What do you mean a year!? As in three hundred and sixty five days from now?"

"Yes."

"Oh fuck that!" he said, jumping out of my arms, and leaving the bathroom.

"Watch the language!" I scolded him again. "If you don't, I'll…I'll-" I wasn't really sure what I could do. I mean, I couldn't kick his butt. I was 3x his size, and I was 10 years older than him.

"Or what!?" he said, crossing his arms, and acting like he could give me an attitude.

I don't really know what came over me, but it was like I suddenly knew the answer of how to handle a smart mouth like him. I grabbed his arm, and pulled him into the bathroom. "You wanna mouth off? I'll show you what happens when you mouth off!" I sat back down on the toilet seat lid, bent him over my knee, and smacked the living crap out of his little ass. I spanked his ass so hard, he ran out the bathroom crying like a baby.

I stormed out after him. He ran into the corner of the room, and cried his eyes out. I picked up his blanket, wrapped him in it, and held him as he cried. I felt bad that I did it, but it had to be done.

_You're right Max. It did._

And here is the Voice once more. Now what?

_You have to go to a nearby mall. They are all going to need new clothes. You will also have to pick up diapers._

Why the hell would I need diapers?

_For Angel. She was changed the furthest back. She is 2._

And how exactly do I take 5 naked little kids to a mall?

_You don't. You have to leave them here alone._

What!? NO WAY. That is out of the question! They can't even defend themselves!

_Max, there isn't much time! Soon, their minds will start to regress to function with their bodies. They will soon start acting their age, so to speak._

Oh shit. How long do I have before their minds start to go back?

_24 hours._

24 hours!? That's not even enough time to get them to- MY MOM'S HOUSE! Of course! I can take them there! But it takes almost a day to fly to Arizona from here. And with them as young as they are, they wouldn't last even a whole 6 hours in the sky.

_Think Max. Use your resources . _

My resources? I had to think about that a little. Wait, duh. The Max Card!

_Good. Now, the other will be waking up soon. When they do, explain to them the situation, then you must take care of the rest._

And just like that, Fang was awake. It didn't take long to explain to him our little "predicament". He was just as shocked as Iggy, but with less attitude. Well, no attitude actually. "I have to got to the mall and get you guys some clothes. If the other wake up, explain what happened to them. And watch Angel. She's 2, so I don't think she'll be able to talk or walk very well." Both shook their heads as I walked out the door.

* * *

Ok. It's been 6 freakin hours since I went to the mall. I would have been back earlier, but these two stupid teenager where fighting over a stupid pink t-shirt. Then they called all their friends, and the mall cops showed up, and questioned everyone on what happened. Then, I had to run back to the grocery store to pick up diapers for Angel. I swear, whose ever idea it was to do this to my flock, they were on my hit list for life!

I stepped out of the elevator, and walked down the hall to our room. As I walked, I could her a bunch of kids screen and running around. _Good thing that's not my flock, or I'd have to kick all their butts. _Now I bet you're thinkin "Haha. Max is wrong. It probably is the flock!" Well it's not.

I slide the key into the port, and opened the door to be greeted by numerous, high-pitched, little "Max!"'s. Nudge and Gazzy ran up to me, and hugged me. I was happy to see them. "Hey guys. So I'm guessing Fang and Iggy tol you guys everything?"

_Yes. _Came Angel's cheerful little voice in my head. I walked over to Fang, and took her from him. "Ok guys." I said as I sorted through the bags. "Everyone has one outfit, and everyone gets one pack of underwear."

"What about shoes?" Iggy asked.

"I bought everyone a pair of sandals. Ok. Iggy, you and Fang help Gazzy get dressed. Nudge, you and Angel are coming with me."

"Ok Max." Nudge grabbed my pant's leg, and followed me as I took her and Angel into the bathroom. I unwrapped Angel from her blanket, and put a diaper on her. I then put her in a pink t-shirt, and baby jeans. When I was done dressing her, I turned to help Nudge, who was having trouble opening her pack of underwear.

I took the pack from Nudge, and open it. I dressed her in a purple shirt that said "Tooty Cutey". (A/N: Ok, seriously, I'm makin this stuff up as I go along. I'm a guy, so I wouldn't know if there really was a shirt like that.) I put the sandal's on their feet, and took them back out to the guys, who were fully dressed.

"Ok. Now that everyone's dressed, I'll explain the plan. We're gonna stay here for the night, then tomorrow morning, we're getting on a plane to Arizona. We're gonna stay with my Mom and sister until this is all over." I said as they all sat on the bed.

"But wouldn't it be better to leave tonight, instead of tomorrow?" Fang asked. "The sooner, the better, right?"

"And how come we can't just use our wings to fly there? I like flying. The clouds are all wet, but they're so pretty. You know what else is pretty? Flowers! And Butterflies!" Nudge rambled on.

"Nudge!" I said, bringing her back to reality. "Now. I thought about that, and it's only because with all of you don't have the strength anymore. You can't fly long distances', like we used to. And I figured it would be best to start tomorrow after we all got a good rest. Especially if you're all gonna lose your minds."

"We are?" Gazzy asked.

"Yes. Tomorrow, your minds will regress backwards to catch up with your bodies. You will start acting your ages."

"So we're gonna be little kids for a whole year, and we're gonna think we're kids?" Nudge asked.

"Yep." I said. I checked the clock. It was 8 o'clock. "Ok guys. Bedtime." I was met with 5 very annoying "Ah….do we hace to?" it was kinda weird that they all said it at the same time. "Now guys! I'm not in the mood to argue."

"Please Max? Just one more hour?" Gazzy begged.

"Yea. Just one?" Nudge added on.

"NO! Now get your little butts in bed!" I said. You know, sometimes, it's good to be the leader.

Both sadly walked away, and hopped into the bed with the rest of them. I walked over to the light switch, and dimmed the lights. They all laid there, staring at me as I did this. I had to find a way to get them to fall asleep. Then, I got an idea.

"**Ok guys. If this doesn't put you to sleep, nothing will." I started homing. "**

Hush, little babies, don't say a word, Max's gonna buy you a mockingbird, and if that mockingbird won't sing, Max's gonna buy you a diamond ring, and if that diamond ring turns brass, Max's gonna buy you a looking glass, and if that looking glass gets broke, Max's gonna buy you a billy goat, and if that billy goat won't pull, Max's gonna buy you a cart and bull,  
and if that cart and bull fall down, you'll still be the sweetest little babies in town." That's right. I sang them a lullaby. I watched as one by one, they all fell asleep.

_You have a really pretty singing voice Max….._Angel thought to me as she fell asleep.

I smiled, and kissed them all on the forehead, like I did the night before, and whispered, "Thanks Angel."

_**Ok,ok. I know it's kinda sappy at the end, but I promise that Max is gonna have some hell to pay in the next chapter. I got a couple of reviews, and so far people like it. and I wanna explain why I picked a year for them to be like this. I was gonna do like 2 weeks or a couple of months, but then I thought "Hey, if I did it for a year, I could put Max through more hell!" now don't get me wrong. I love Max just as much as the next guy. But come on? The whole point of this story is to put her through hell, and that's what I'm gonna do!...lol**_

_**Remember: Keep reading, writing, and reviewing!**_

_**Later!**_

_**-dt2009.**_


	3. Chapter 3:Flight Time

Chapter 3: Flight Time

I was sleeping peacefully, as I dreamed about my Mom's chocolate chip cookies, when I heard I sudden crash. I jumped up, and out of my bed, getting into battle mode. "Oooou! Nudge, you're in trouble!" I heard 4 little voices say. I turned around to see that the TV was broken.

"Oh my god!" I said, running over to it. There was a huge crack in the screen, and the channels were all fuzzy with static. I turned and looked down upon my flock as they all cowered in front of me. "What did you guys do!?"I shrieked at them.

"Nudge did it!" Gazzy said, pointing to her.

"Nudge!" I said, looking at her. "What. Did. You. Do!?" I asked again, this time through my teeth.

"It was Gazzy's fault!" she said. I was surprised. Normally, she would have made up a super long, pointless excuse while rambling about random crap.

"Either someone tells me what the hell happened, or I'm gonna seriously start kicking ass!" I know what I said earlier about swearing, but it was the only way I was gonna get them to tell me what happened.

"Oooou! Max cused!" Iggy said, pointing at me. "I gonna tell on you Max!"

Ok, I was seriously confused now. Why was Iggy acting like-. Then, it hit me. Their minds regressed. They had completely regressed.

"Crap," I whispered to myself. I turned back to Iggy. "You can't tell on me cause I'm in charge, remember?"

"Oh." Was all he said.

"Now, how did the TV get broken?"

"Nudge and Gazzy was fighting over the mote, and then, Nudge tripped backward and the mote hit da TB, and it braked." He explained.

I turned and looked at them. Both were scared out of their minds. "I'll deal with you two later." I picked up my backpack, and walked over the bed to Angel, who was still sleeping, surprisingly. "Everyone get your bags. We're heading to the Airport."

They each put their blankets in their backpacks, and stood by the door while I fixed the beds, and grabbed Angel's bag. "Ok. Let's head to the elevator." As soon as I opened the door, they all took off for the elevator, screaming and running down the hall. I ran after them, and grabbed each of them by their wrist. "DO NOT RUN AWAY FROM ME!" I scolded all of them as the door to the elevator opened. They all had looks of remorse on their faces.

I held onto each of them until we got into the lobby. "Everyone, go sit in the chairs, and don't move!" They all ran over to the chairs and couches and sat. I walked over to the counter, and took out my room keys. "We'll be checking out now." I said to the receptionist, who looked at me like I was crazy.

"Ok? Are you waiting on your parents to come down?" she asked.

"No. I didn't come with any adults. Can you please just not ask me these pointless questions? I'm sick of every adult I see, whether it's at a restaurant, or a hotel asking me that. I just wanna check out, so I can leave with my brothers and sisters." I said. I know I was being rude, but I really wasn't in the mood. Especially considering what I'm gonna have to deal with.

"Young lady, it's not very nice to take tones and be rude with adults." She was trying to lecture me. Me, Maximum Ride! She don't know she's messin with.

"Look lady, I know I'm being rude, but how about you let me check out so that way, I can leave, and get out of your way? How's that sound?" she was dumfounded. She checked us out without another word. I paid the bill, and walked over to where my flock was waiting for me.

When I got over there, I was shocked. You'll never guess what I saw. Go head, guess.

Well whatever you guess, I bet you're wrong. I saw Fang and Iggy, rolling around on the ground, wrestling. "Dummy head!" Fang said, as he punched Iggy.

"Stupid head!" Iggy said back, as he punched Fang back. You know, it funny how when your little, insults sound like they're really good, when most of the time, they're all the same, or really stupid.

I ran over to them, and pulled them apart. "Knock it off you two!" I said. "Imagine if you had broken something?"

"That would be bad." Nudge said.

"Yes Nudge, that would be bad. Now come on, we're leaving." I said, grabbing their hands again. While I was at the store, I picked up a local bus schedule. The schedule said that the next bus that was headed for the airport was leaving in 20 minutes, and the nearest bus stop was right down the street.

Before we head out the door, I stopped then. "Ok guys. When we get outside, you will stay close to me, and away from the street. DO NOT GO NEAR THE STREET! Got it?" I said, pointing my finger at each of them. They each nodded one at a time as I pointed to them. I nodded my head, and headed out the door, with Angel swarming in my arms.

She giggled as we walked down the street. She was happy. I could tell. _Big____houses! _She thought to me.

I smiled, and laughed. "Yea, they are pretty big."

"Max?" Fang said, pulling my pants leg.

I turned my head, and looked down at him. "Yea?"

"I gots to go potty." He said, holding his hands in between his legs.

I rolled my eyes, and metally smacked myself for not thinking about that before. "Can you hold it?"

"No. I gots to go real bad."

I looked around, and saw we were right outside a restaurant. I checked my watch, and saw that we still had 17 minutes before the bus came. "Ok everybody. Potty break." I opened the door as they all filed in. I walked up to the guy standing at the podium. "Hey, can you tell me where the bathroom is?"

"Sorry kid, but the bathroom's for paying customers only." He said with an attitude. God, if we weren't trying to hide ourselves, I'd drop kick him through a freakin window.

"Listen buddy." I said, grabbing his shirt. "My little brother has to go real bad. So unless you wanna clean up a puddle pee, you'll tell me where it is!"

He looked freaked out of his mind. And a little discussed. "Right down the hall, and to the left."

"Thanks." I said, letting him go. "Come on!" I said as they followed me to the bathroom. When I got there, there were two bathrooms. One boys, and one girls. I tried to lead everyone into the girls, but of course, Fang and Iggy had to be stubborn.

"Eww! That's the girls potty!" Iggy said.

"We not goin in there!" Fang protested.

"If you don't get you butts in here now, I'll make sure you don't live long enough to become a teenager again!" I said, already pissed about everything I had to deal with this morning.

They ran in as quick as they could. Nudge pulled my pants leg. "Max, I no have to go."

"I don't care Nudge. You're gonna go so we don't have to do this again later."

After we got that out of their systems, I rushed them all back outside. I checked my watch. We had 9 minutes to get to the bus stop. Luckily, it was right at the corner. I sat down, and let out a deep sigh. Angel looked up at me, and started bouncing on my lap.

Then, just as everyone was starting to get jumpy, the bus arrived. Thank god! Loaded them all onto it, and paid for our ride. I sat next to Fang, who laid his head on my lap, and started to fall asleep. "Hey tough guy. A little tired there?" I asked as I rubbed my hand through his jet black hair.

"Yea." Was all he said. I looked at the seat in front of me to see that Nudge, Iggy, and Gazzy were all sleeping on each other too. I had to remember that I would have to make them all take naps. Especially if they get on my nerves like they have been since I woke up this morning.

I woke them as soon as we got to the airport. "Ok guys. When we get inside, I want you all to stay close to me. This place could be dangerous." I'll spare you the details of how I got the guy running the ticket counter to give me the tickets without a big hassle. When we went through the security check, I was really nervous and twitchy. I can't stand cops anymore then I can white coats.

As we headed toward our gate, Nudge started whining. "MAAAXXX! I'm hungry!"

"Me too." Iggy added.

"Me too." Gazzy said.

"Me too." Fang added.

I looked down at Angel in my arms. "Let me guess, you too?" She smiled, and nodded her head up and down. I sighed. "Ok. Let's get-" and the next thing I know, they were gone! Well everyone except Angel, who could leave cause I had her. "Oh crap!" I said as I ran around looking for them.

"Iggy!? Fang!? Nudge!? Gazzy!?" I yelled as I passed person after person.

"Hey!" I turned and found Iggy and Gazzy at the Auntie Anne's Pretzel shop.

I ran over to the shop, grabbed both of them. "I told you not to run off! Just wait til I get you alone. You guys are so dead!" both started crying from fear of what I was going to do to them.

"You know them?" the shop owner asked me.

"Yea. They're my little brothers. I'm really sorry bout that."

"Yea well, someone's gonna have to pay for those pretzels they ate." I dug into my pocket, and pulled out a 20 dollar bill.

"Keep the change." I said, dragging them away. I kept searching, and found Nudge laying on the floor in front of the Sabbaro Pizza shop. She was kicking and screaming, throwing a temper tantrum over the fact that the guy wouldn't give her a piece of pizza. "Nudge!" I yelled. She stopped throwing her tantrum, and sat up. Her eyes went wide as I stomped over to her, and grabbed her wrist. "You guys are in serious trouble! You hear me!?" I yelled at her, causing her to cry even more.

"3 down, 1 to go. Now if I was Fang, where would I go to eat?"Then, it hit me. "McDonalds." When we escaped from the School, the first real meal we had was McDonalds. Ever since, it's been Fang's favorite fast food place. Not only did I find Fang, but some jerk was holding his hand at the counter. Fang was crying, which worried me. I walked over to him slowly, cautiously, just in case this guy was an Eraser. But this guy was looked way too young to be an Eraser. He looked like he was maybe a year or two older than me.

"Has anyone lost a child?" he called out.

"I did." I said walking over to him.

"Max!" Fang said running up, and hugging my leg. "I got losted, was I thinks I never sees you no more."

I grabbed his wrist, and got down to his eye level. "Just wait. You are in serious much trouble. I told you to stay close!" I got back up, and looked at the guy. "Thanks. I'm really sorry about my little brother."

"It's no problem. I've got a little brother of my own. I'm John by the way." He said, holding out his hand.

"I'm Max." I said shaking his hand. "I swear, I'm gonna kick all their little butts later." We both started laughing.

"They do seem like a hand full. But I'm sure they mean well." He said, jostling Fang's hair. Now, I was really embarrassed, and upset with Fang. He bit him. He freakin bit John with his ridiculously sharp fangs. And that's why we called him Fang. "Ow!" John said, pulling his hand back, and surveying the damage.

"FANG!" I yelled. I couldn't control it anymore. I straight up smacked Fang across his little face. His face scrunched up, his eyes grew wide, and tears started to form before he let out a loud cry. I was surprised with not only Fang, but also with myself. "I'm really sorry John." I apologized again.

"Don't worry. No harm done."

"Good. Well, it was nice meeting you, but I've gotta go so we can catch our flight."I grabbed Fang, and dragged him away, the other's close behind.

When we got to our gate, the plane was just starting to board. We got on the plane, and sat in our seats. I bucked them all in their seats before doing mine. "Max…." Fang tried to say, rubbing his cheek where I smacked him.

"Quiet!" I said. They all turned, and started to cower as I stared them down. "I don't wanna here it. I told you guys to stay close, and what do you do? You run off! I nearly had a heart attack! Do you even know what could have happened to you!?" No one said a word. "I will deal with **all** of you when we get off the plane. I'm very disappointed in you guys. especially you Fang."

_**And that's the end of this chapter! As you can see, Max had some serious trouble on her first day as a single parent. Will things get better, or will it get worse? And I know you guys feel bad for Fang, but think of it this way: He got to bit someone! I wanna thank **__**123-Cat Cat-321 for giving me the idea for the biting scene. So let me know what you think about the story so far.**_

_**Remember: Keep reading, writing, and reviewing!**_

_**Later!**_

_**-dt2009**_


	4. Chapter 4:Plane Crazy

Chapter 4:Plane Crazy

So we finally made it on to the plane, which made me feel slightly better. We were finally on our way to my mom's house. A mere 6 stinkin hours away! Luckily, the flock was sleeping. As soon as we got onto the plane, and I got a little angry about how disappointed I was in them, they all quieted down, and eventually fell asleep.

I looked at Fang as he slept. I could still slightly see where I had smacked him. I felt bad for it, but I had no other real choice. I touched his cheek lightly, which made him wince a little. I thought I had woke him up, but he just turned over on his other side.

I let out a sigh of relief. The longer they slept, the more peace I had. Just then, the stewardess came up to us with a cart of goodies. "Hello." She said quietly, probably trying to refrain from waking everyone up.

"Hi." I whispered back.

"Can I get you anything?" she asked.

"Can I get 3 blankets, and 3 Sprites with ice please?"

"Sure." She said handing me the blankets. I laid one ever Gazzy, Nudge, and Iggy, one over Fang and Angel, and the last one was for me. I took the three Sprites, and started on my first one.

After I finished my first one, I was all set to snuggle under the blanket and nap, when I heard a little voice say my name. "Max?"

I looked over the seat in front of me to see Gazzy rubbing his eye. "Hey pal. What's up?"

"I don't feel so good." He said, holding his stomach. I didn't wanna take **any** chances, so I got up, and took him to the bathroom. I stood outside the door, and listen as he barfed up whatever parts of that pretzel he had into the toilet.

Once he had stopped, I took him back to his seat. "What happened? Eat too much?" I asked him.

"No. I think I'm getting air sick." Now how's that for ironic? A freakin Avian Human hybrid that gets air sick on a plane.

"Here. Drink a little Sprite. It'll settle your stomach." I said, giving him one of my Sprites. He chugged about half of it, and fell back to sleep.

Everything seemed ok. They were sleeping, the plane ride was ok (well other then the fact that I'm stuck with a mini flock in a giant, flying, steel cage, with only 2 actual escapes), and there was no sign of the School. Yet.

I checked the time on the little TV screen in front of me. We would be landing in about 4 hours. Great. Then I saw the phone on the seat in front of me. I picked it up, and dialed my mom's number.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hey mom." I said.

"Max! How are you sweetie?"

"I've been….better." I said truthfully.

"That doesn't sound good. How is the flock doing?"

"Mom, I gotta tell you something." I said in a bit of a nervous tone. You'd be too if you had to call your parent and tell her that you were on a plane with 5 little kids to take care of on your own, and on your way to her house.

"What is it Max? What's wrong?" then I think I heard her gasp. "Max, are you pregnant?" she asked in a paranoid kind of parental tone.

"WHAT!? NO. The flock has been turned back into kids. It was something the School did."

"Oh no. They didn't…." she trailed off.

"Yea. And now, I'm on a plane after a morning off craziness toward Arizona. I was hoping to stay with you and Ella until I get them back to normal. Is that ok?"

"Of course Max. We'll talk more we you get here. Call me when you're getting ready to land."

"Ok mom. And don't tell Ella. I want it to be a surprise."

"Ok. See you soon."

"Bye." I hung up the phone, and was about to finally go back to sleep, when a thought hit me. "Fang, wake up." I said, shaking him a little.

"Huh?" he asked sleepily.

"Come on big guy. Bathroom break." I said picking him, and walking him to the bathroom. Ok, I know I sound a little mom-ish right now, but I can't help it. And I figured it was best to wake them all up and do this so I wouldn't have to be the one to tell the stewardess that some kid pissed on the seats.

After Fang, I woke Iggy up, which was harder than I thought. He can be so stubborn when he's sleeping. After him, was Gazzy, then Nudge. After I made sure they all went, I changed Angel into a new diaper, and finally returned to my seat.

I looked at how cute they all looked when they slept. It was hard to believe that these cute little sleeping angels, were really annoying, mutant, devils on the inside. Especially Angel. But I love them all.

I closed my eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep. It was nice to actually sleep and not have to worry about anything. I started to visualize what my life would be like in the next couple of year. It was actually pretty nice. Fang and I were married and sitting under a tree, eating a delicious picnic that Iggy made for us. It was mine and Fang's 1 year wedding aniversity, or at least that's what he told me.

"Max?" Fang said, holding me tight in his arms as I laid against his chest.

"Yea?" I asked.

"You know I love you, right?" he asked.

"I know. You know I love you too, right?"

"Of course. But then again, who could resist all this?" he said as he pulled his hand through his hair.

I smacked his chest, which caused him to laugh. "You are so fell of yourself sometimes." I told him.

"But that's why you love me."

"Yea. I guess it is."

"Mommy! Daddy!" called out a little child. She was beautiful. She had perfectly tanned skin, dirty blonde hair, and black eyes. She was wearing a purple sundress with purple shoes to match. She was truly a beautiful child, and I was wondering who's she was.

"Over here." Fang called out. I was a little confused. Why did Fang do that?

The girl ran up the hill, and jumped in Fang's lap. She snuggled into his chest, and tried to wrap her little arms around his big chest. Fang smiled, and wrapped his arms around her. She looked up at him and said, "I loves yous Daddy."

Whoa! That was a shocker. I never expected that to be Fang's daughter. But if that's Fang's daughter, then who's the mother?

"I love you to Star." He said, kissing the top of her head.

She got off Fang's lap, and crawled over to mine, she wrapped he arms around me. She snuggled into me, then looked up at me and said, "I loves you toos Mommy."

Ok. Now for all you Maximum Ride fans out there, you know it doesn't take all that much to make me freak out. I mean, I can take on an army of Erasers, Flyboys, and M-Geeks like it's no problem. But have me kiss the guy of my dreams and dreaming I'm a mom, that's when I lose it.

I jerked myself out of my sleep, and almost screamed my head off. I looked around at the flock, who were now wide away. Fang was playing with Angel, while Nudge and Gazzy were thumb wrestling. Iggy was just kinda laying there, bored, and since he couldn't read yet, he had nothing to do.

I checked the time. We would be landing in about 2 hours or so. I sighed. "Hey Ig." I called out to him.

He stood up on his seat, and looked at me. "Hi Max!" he said, waving at me.

"Stop standing on the seat. If you're bored, you can come sit with me." I offered.

"No. Me's ok. Me's gots winner of dis game." He said, pointing to Gazzy and Nudge.

"Ok. Just keep it down." I said to them. When I turn to Fang and Angel, Fang was trying to teach her patty cake. It was actually kinda cute. But don't tell Fang cause then he'll get all silent and distant. But that's Fang for you.

Suddenly, Angel started whimpering. I looked at Fang who was just as confused as me. I unbuckled Angel from her seat, and sat her on my lap. "Hey, hey. What's the matter?" I asked her.

"I hungry." She whined. That's when I remembered. We hadn't eaten all day. When they ran off, I was too pissed off to get them food.

And as luck would have it, the stewardess came back. "Is there a problem?" she asked me.

"No. We're just a little hungry. Aren't we?" I said making weird kissy faces at Angel, who started smiling and giggling. "Is it possible to get 5 of those airline happy meals and 3 of the regular?"

"Of course." She walked to the back of the plane and came back with the meal. She handed them out to the kids, well except Angel who was too little to hold her food. Everyone started eating and feed Angel.

She smiled and hugged me when I finished cleaning her cute little face. "Did you like it?" I asked her. She nodded and laid her head on my chest. We still had another hour before we were scheduled to land. Everyone was rested, everyone was fed, and everyone had gone to the bathroom. Things were finally starting to look up for me. But as you know, that never last.

"Let's pay tag!" Iggy said, jumping off his seat. Nudge, Gazzy, and Fang soon followed. The four of them started running up and down the aisle. And started reaching out to them too. I'm guessing she wanted to play to. I held her in my lap.

She turned and looked up at me with pleading eyes. "No Angel! You're not doing that, and neither are they." I turned back to them. "You guys are already on thin ice. If you don't want me to kick your tiny little but all over this plane, you'll sit down!" Of course they didn't hear me.

Then the stewardess came up to me. "Excuse me miss, but you are going to control your children."

My mouth dropped open. "Ok, first of all, don't ever tell me what I have to do. You don't know me. Second of all, they're my brothers and sisters. And third, I know that, but to do that, I would have beat their butts, and some of the people would consider it child abuse."

She was utterly speechless. And she should be. She was nice at first, but now she was just annoying. I strapped Angel back in her seat, and got out of mine. I grabbed each one of them, one by one. Once I had all of them, I decided that I wasn't gonna wait til we got off the plane.

I picked Fang up first, bent him over my knee, and spanked the crap out of him. I guarantee, his butt was flashing red. I looked at the others. Their faces became pale. I grabbed Nudge next. She screamed before I even bent her over my knee. After her, was Iggy, then Gazzy. I then turned back to Angel.

"See? You don't wanna end up like them, do you?" she shook her head no as she saw them all rubbing the very sore butts. Then, the best news of the whole day came.

"Attention Passenger," said the captain. "We will be landing in fifteen minutes. Please return your seats to their upright position, and put your tray tables back up on the seat in front of you. Thank you."

"Well, I guess I can call my mom now."I said picking up the phone. As I started dialing the number, Fang decided to speak up.

"Max meanie!" he said, still crying a little.

"Max meanie!" Nudge agreed.

I decided to put an end to this now. "Next one to say that or anything like that, is gonna get another spanking!" everyone shut up. I nodded and finished dialing the number.

_**That's the end of this chapter. Hope you liked it! Hopefully, the craziness is gonna get better. If you have any ideas, let me know….so review people! NOW!**_

_**Remember: Keep reading, writing, and reviewing.**_

_**Later!**_

_**-dt2009 **_


	5. Chapter 5:Next Stop, Home

_**Ok. For all you hater out there who are complaining that Max is committing child abuse, she's NOT! She's not abusing the mini flock, she disciplining them! She does love them, but when they act up and don't behave and listen to her, what choice does she really have? So to everyone who thinks that what I'm writing about them is child abuse, screw you. If you don't like what I write, then don't read it. But I do have a plan. Everything that has happened was part of Max's growing up. Thank you all who have encouraged me, and who are enjoying the story.**_

Chapter 5: Next stop, home

"Max, where we goin?" Nudge asked as we headed to the baggage claim.

I sighed. "I told you Nudge. We're going to live with my mom for awhile."

"Grandma house!" Angel cheered.

"What?" I said, looking down at her in my arms. "Why did you call her grandma?" I asked her.

"Cause she you mommy." Nudge informed me.

"So?"

"Well you our mommy." She said with a big smile.

"You guys think of me ask your mom?" I asked a little shocked. I wasn't expecting them to say that. It was kinda nice, but still a little weird. Right now, I didn't really want anyone to see me as their mom. But I guess I don't really have a choice.

"Well acts like a mommy." Fang said from behind me.

"But just cause I catch like one, doesn't me I am one. But I do love you guys like you were my kids." I said with a smile. This caused them all to cheer, and embrace me in a group hug. It was actually kinda….well, sweet.

"Aw, that's so cute." My Mom said, taking a picture of it.

"Mom! When did you get here?" I asked, a little embarrassed that I just got caught doing that.

"I just got here before that cute little group hug." She said, laughing a little.

"You, ah, should probably delete that. It wouldn't be good if it feel into the wrong hands…." I was now pleading with her, but in my own way.

"You mean like….Ella's?" she said smiling at me.

"Yea. There's a good example. So can you please delete that?"

"Um. No. I think I want to keep it."

I groaned. "Ok. Whatever. Can we please just get out of here? I'm feeling really uncomfortable right now." I said. I don't like in closed spaces, and the baggage claim at an airport is definitely not the place for me.

She chuckled a little bit. "Sure sweetie. Let's go." We walked out to the airport parking lot where Mom had parked her van. As I was loading the flock into the van, some snobby looking college walked back and looked at me as I loaded them up.

"Oh my god. She must be such a slut." Said the first one.

"I know, right? I mean look at her. She has 5 kids. I bet her Mom is so embarrassed."  
Ok, now if any of you think that I'm just gonna sit here and take this crap cause I'm tryin to stay hidden. Well guess what? You're wrong!

"Hey!" I said turning around and catching up with them. "If you got something to say about me, say it to my face." I said.

Both turned around to face me. "Excuse me? Who the hell do you think you're talking to you little slut?" the first girl said to me.

I started laughing at how funny this was. "You really think you're all that, don't you? You think just cause you're popular for making fun of others, that you can do whatever you want and never expect anyone to say something? Well I'm different. I stand up for what I believe."

"Oooh, big talk coming from such a big girl."

"You really do think you can scare us?" said the second girl.

I smiled and shook my head at them. "You know, I've seen your kind before. So self-conscious about your looks and your status in the school food chain that you belittle other for no reason. People like you make me sick."

"Well at least we aren't total sluts like you." She replied.

"Yea. Cause you're even worse than me. And apparently you're blind cause those are my brothers and sisters."

"You expect us to believe-"

"Max?" Nudge said, pulling at my pants leg.

"Yea?" I said picking her up.

"Mommy said that we needs to goes. She saids that she needs to gets din-or started."

"Ok. I'll be there in a minute. You get back to the car." I said, putting her on the ground.

"Okays!" she happy replied. She ran back to the car as fast as her little legs would take her.

I turned to the two snobs in front of me. "Sorry, but as you can see, my family has a lot to do." I turned and started toward to the van, when I saw a light pole. "Oh, and watch what you say about people." I them kicked the pole, and left a nice dent in it. I smiled at them as I climbed into the passenger seat on the van. I took one last look at the girls as their mouths hung open from shock. I started laughing as we drove out of the parking lot.

"Max, I don't think that kicking the pole was necessary." Leave it to Mom to rain on my parade.

"I know, but the looks on their faces were priceless. I could help myself." I said, relaxing in my seat. It was gonna be a good thirty minutes before we got home, so I figured I'd get comfortable. I was actually enjoying the peace and quiet. But that's what worried me. The flock was quiet. A little too quiet. They were never this quiet except when they were sleeping.

I turned around to look at them. They were all sitting there eating candy. Well lollipops to be specific. "Where did you guys get those lollipops?" I asked them.

"I gave them to them." My Mom said like it was nothing.

"What? Why?"

"Because kids love candy and I thought they deserved a little treat." She said, smiling sweetly at me.

"Mom, they don't deserve a treat. They've been acting up all day."

"Even so, you can't be too tough on them. Besides, I'm sure they didn't mean it."

"Fang bit a guy who found him when they ran off from me at the air port back in Chicago. The guy was a nice, and kinda cute." I smiled. Just then, I was hit in the back of the head with something. I turned to look at Fang, who was now missing a shoe. "Hey! Don't make me come back there!" I threatened him.

Fang stuck his tongue out at me, which wasn't the best idea. I so wasn't in the mood to deal with his attitude, and he was definitely pushing his luck. "I'm serious Fang. You'd better watch it." I turned around, and was looking forward, when I felt something else hit me. I put my hand on the back of my head, and felt his lollipop stuck in my hair!

"What the hell!?" I screamed. I started to unbuckle my seat belt. Ok. Now throwing a shoe at me, I can deal with. But throwing a lollipop in my hair, that's when I get pissed. "Just wait til I get my hands on you Fang! Your butt is mine!" I would have said ass, but I wasn't in the mood to be scolded by my Mom about my language. Plus, like I said before, I'm trying to get the flock to swear less.

Right as I got the seat unbuckled, my Mom grabbed my hand. "Max, what are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm gonna beat his butt! That's what I'm doin!"

"Max, how have you been disciplining their bad behavior?" she asked, looking at me questioningly.

"When their behavior got to a certain point, I spank them."

"Max, when you say a certain point, what exactly do you mean?"

"Like when I get pissed off." I said without thinking. It came out a little bit harsher then I wanted it to.

"Ok, first of all, do not take that attitude with me young lady." Oh great. Now I was the one getting in trouble. "And second, you can't just spank them whenever you think it's right."

"Ok. I agree with you on that, but right now, Fang, definitely needs one!" I got up and was about to crawl over the seats, when something happened that has never happened before.

"Maximum Ride! Sit down, NOW!" My Mom shouted at me.

I don't know why, but it was like something just clicked in my head. I turned at looked at her. He face was slightly red from anger, and I could tell that she was mad. As I looked at her, I started to feel really tense and uneasy. I think I was actually scared. I was scared. "O…Ok." I stammered as I took my seat. I put my seat belt back on, and looked down in shame. I was embarrassed.

"Haha! Max gots in trouble!" Fang laughed. I turned and him a glare.

I was about to say something when my Mom spoke up. "Fang, when we get home, you're in timeout for throwing things at and for laughing at her."

"No! That not fair!" he screamed. He started crying his little eyes out. I was still looking at him. I was amazed at what I saw. All Mom did was tell him he was in timeout, and he started stopped acting bad. "I be good, I be good!" he tried to reason with her.

"No Fang. You were bad, so now you have to pay the consequences." She said, ignoring his crying. "The more you cry, the longer you'll be in timeout."

Fang stopped his crying, but continued to pout as the tears streamed down his face. I turned to look at mom. "Mom….how did you do that? That was amazing!"

"It's nothing. Your sister used to act like that all the time. I hardly ever had to spank her cause she usually stopped once we got to the taking her toys away." She said, smiling at me. "But back to you. Why are you so irrational?"

"I don't know. I guess cause I know that my Flock is still in there, and I'm just not that used to taking care of so many kids. Well I am, but not babies. The only baby I really had to care was Angel, and she was never bad as a baby. Just as a kid." We both laughed a little bit at this.

"Well you're going to have to remember that they are the Flock, but they're also kids. You have to treat them like kids, and not like teenagers. It's only temporary."

"OK. But there one thing I still don't understand." She looked at me questioningly. "Why did Fang bite that guy back at the airport."

My Mom started chuckling a little. "I think Fang has a little crush on you. And seeing that other boy flirting with you made him mad, and he over reacted."

I turned around and looked at Fang. "Fang? Do you have a crush on me?"

"Yes. I love Max lots! Me don't wants no one else to like her cause she mines."

I smiled and turned back to face my mom. "Ok Fang. I'm yours, but you have to share me with the Flock, Mom, and Ella, ok?"

"Oks!" he shouted.

As we pulled into the drive way, I say Ella standing the window. She opened the door, and ran outside to greet us. "Max!" she said, jumping into my arms.

"Hey Ella. How are you?"

"I'm good. I'm so glad to see you and the Flock."

"Um, about the Flock….well…"

"They did come with you, right?"

"Yea, but they aren't-" but before I could finish, Nudge jumped out of her seat, and ran up to Ella.

"El-a!" she shouted, grabbing Ella's leg.

"Nudge?" she turned and looked at me. "Max, what happened to her?"

"It's not just her. The whole Flock has been turned into kids again." Just then, the remaining members of the Flock ran out. Well everyone except Angel who was really able to walk yet.

I walked over to Angel and picked her up as she extended her arms out for me to pick her up. I walked back over to Ella and watched as she herded the Flock inside.

"Max, before you go in, I think you should know something." Ella said as I stopped at the door.

"What is it?"

"Well, -" but she was cut off by someone who was standing in the living room.

"Hello Max." I knew that voice.

I turned in the direction from which the voice came from. When I saw him, my blood started to boil. "Jeb."

**To be continued…..**

_**So I hope you like this, and as you can see, there was a reason why Max was hitting them so much. She isn't used to dealing with so many little kids. But how does all this intertwine with Max's test and future? And what exactly did her dream in the last chapter mean? Well keep reading to find out!**_

_**Remember: Keep reading, writing, and reviewing!**_

_**Later!**_

_**-dt2009**_


	6. AN:Offical I'm Sorry Notice

_**Hey guys. **_

_**I'm really sorry to say this, bout im completely out of ideas. I've been having writers block so bad, my head hurts when I try to think it up.**_

_**And it's not just this story, it's all of my stories. **_

_**I really wish I could tell you that it's all gonna be better, but I can't. Right now, I'm trying to comfort my friend because a couple of years ago, his cousin died, and it was right around his birthday, so he's been a little of this week, and I've been tryin to help him.**_

_**I've also been thinking about this girl I used to like a lot. In fact, I loved her. I felt like she was the greatest girl I had ever met. We were about to start going out, but then she said she didn't want to. She said she wanted to be friends, and I said ok. But now, she wont even talk to me. It's been about 2 years since I've had my heart broken, and now, im just not focused. **_

_**Then, I've been working a lot and feeling really tired, and not up for writing. I've been focusing on working so much since my boss is a jerk, and schedules me so much, so my creative adrenaline hasn't really been flowing.**_

_**I am gonna except ideas for the story. Since I have none of my own right now, chances are that if I do write a new chapter soon, it'll be whatever you guys suggest. **_

_**I really hope that you guys can help me and that I get out of this depressing summer funk. **_

_**I love you all, and thanks for reading.**_

_**-Dt2009 with Dark Blue Wings- (Spreads wings, and flies away)**_


	7. Chapter 6: Explain

_**Ok guys. I'm still not completely back to my normal writing standards, but I just cant bear the thought of all my reviewers out there suffering and waiting for a new chapter, so I'm gonna give it my all, and write a new chapter right now. If it's bad, let me know. And I'm gonna say sorry in advance.**_

_**I will be putting in the ideas I got from reviewrs, so look for them! and this chapter is gonna blow your minds....or at least the beginning will....**_

Chapter 7: Explain

"Jeb! You son of –"

"MAXIMUM!" Mom said. "I don't wanna that type of language in my house."

"Sorry." I turned to look back at Jeb. "You'd better explain why you're here before I rip your throat out." Now you all know that I still don't trust or like Jeb, so seeing him in my mom's house after my Flock has be turned into kids….well that's just not my idea of a good time.

"Jeb!" the Flock yelled. And not in an angry way either. They all ran over to him, and hugged him. That's when I remembered that when we were at the school, Jeb took care of us, and that they probably wouldn't remember that he was the one who betrayed us.

"Hello everyone. It's good to see you all again." Jeb said, hugging them all.

"Ok guys. Let's get to our room so you can have some playtime before dinner." I said as I herded them into a room all the way in the back of the house and up the stairs. I put Angel on the bed and handed her Celeste, her teddy bear. "Ok guys. Stay here til I get back. Don't break anything in…" I looked around the room, and realized it was Ella's room. "Ella's room cause she will yell at you and punish you if you do. Ok?" they all nodded.

I ran back downstairs to find that Jeb was having a nice little cup of tea. I plopped myself down on the couch across from him, and got right down to business. "Ok Jeb. I know you're here to tell me something about the school and what happened to the Flock, so spill it so I can get back to helping them."

He started chuckling to himself before saying, "Ah Max. Still sharp as ever. Yes I am here to talk about what has happened to the Flock. They only have -"

"A year before they turn back to their normal selves. Look, I already know all that. The voice told me. It said that in one year, they'll return back to normal, and everything will be alright.

_I never said everything would be alright Max. I said that they had a year._ The voice said. Now I was confused.

"You should be Max." Jeb said. "I was the one that told you that the Flock had a year." Oh. That's right. I forgot Jeb could do the voice.

"Ok. So you're telling me something you already told me. Big deal. If you nothing new to tell me, then you might as well leave cause I'm not gonna sit here and-"

"I was wrong Max." he said, bluntly.

"What?" I asked, definitely confused.

"I was wrong. The Flock on has a month." He said in a low voice.

"Really!? That's great!" I was actually happy to see Jeb. He actually brought me some good news.

"No Max. it's not." But off course, he has to ruin my good mood.

"What do you mean? The Flock's gonna be back to normal in a month. That's great."

"No Max. They will be back to normal, but they're also gonna die."

I could feel the blood leave my face. I must be pale as a ghost right now. "WHAT!?" I scream at the top of my lungs which caused Mom and Ella to run in from the kitchen. "What do you mean they're gonna die!?" I jumped to my feet, clinching my fist. The blood came rushing back to my face just as quickly as it left.

"Max calm down." Mom said grabbing my shoulders and holding me back.

"You'd better start explaining Jeb or I swear I'll beat your face in!" I was really pissed.

He let out a deep sigh. "Back when they originally created the gas, it was meant to temporally reverse the aging process and return a person back to their selective age. The original test subject was an Eraser that's expiration date was close, so the school tested it on him. It was a success and he returned to the age of 3. They kept tabs on him since they weren't sure how long the gases effects would last. After a month he returned to his age mentally, but not physically."

"What do you mean not physically?" I asked.

"As the month went on, he slowly grew back to normal mentally, but his body aged twice as fast as it did before. By the time he returned to normal, he was unable to live from aging so much. They decided that they wanted to try it on the Flock back before I freed you all from the school. Since they didn't have any other test subjects that were that close to human, they tried it on actual humans, and the results were the same. If we don't find an antidote by the end of the month, the Flock will die." He said, looking straight at me.

I took a deep breath "Ok. So what do we have to do first?" I asked.

"You don't need to do anything other than take care of the Flock. Your mother and I will work on the antidote."

"Ok. But Jeb," I said, looking him straight in the eye "you do anything to hurt the Flock even more, and I swear, you'll wish you never used me to experiment on."

"I understand." He said.

I walked up the stairs with Ella right behind me. "Max, everything's gonna fine. I promise. Mom's gonna find a cure and we can all live together as a family." She said, trying to make me feel better.

"Yea. I know it will." I said. We walked into Ella's room to find that everything seemed to still be intact. "Hey guys." I said.

"Max!" Fang said, running up to me and hugging my leg. "I thoughts yous was nots comin back for us."

I picked him up, and hugged him. "Now why wouldn't I come back for you guys? I love you."

"I loves yous too Max." he said before he gave me a sloppy kiss on the lips.

"Eww!" all the flock said. I was trying not to say it myself as Fang glared at all of them except Angel who was giggling.

"Thanks Fang." I said putting him down. As soon as he turned around, I tried to wipe the drool from my mouth. Now don't get me wrong. I like Fang, and I don't really mind it anymore when he kisses me. It's just…I don't like baby drool!

"Max, looky whats I teached Angel!" Nudge cheered, pulling at my pants leg. I looked up at Angel like Nudge said, and I was amazed. Angel was actually standing up. On her own!

"Oh my god!" I said picking her up. "Angel, that's great! I'm so proud of you!" I said, snuggling her up to me.

"Um, Max?" Ella asked, tapping my shoulder.

"Yea?" she them pointed down to Nudge, who had tears in her eyes. "Nudge, what's wrong?" I asked.

"You lies Angel bestess. And I teached her that, and you only saids you proud of her." Oh man. My heart sank a little. I handed Angel to Ella, and picked up Nudge.

"Nudge, I am proud of you. I'm proud of all you guys. You know that, right?"

"Yes." She said, sniffling and rubbing her eye.

"How about you take a nap, and I'll wake you up when dinner's ready?"

"Ok." She said. I laid her down on Ella's bed, and tucked her in. Ella and I took everyone else downstairs to the living room. I put on Spongebob, and they all shut up and started staring at the TV. Note to self: when annoyed, put on Spongebob.

I walked into the kitchen to see Mom and Ella making dinner. I sat down at the table. "Mom." I called to her.

"Yes sweetie?"

"You don't have to make as much food anymore. And is it possible if you and I can go to the mall tomorrow?"

"I thought you didn't like the mall?" she asked in a mocking tone.

"Haha, real funny Mom." I said with a little sarcasm. "I don't, but I need to get the Flock more than one set of clothes if we're gonna be here for the next month."

"Sure sweetie."

"Oh! Can I come?" Ella asked excitedly.

"No." Mom said like she already answered that question before this. "You know you're still grounded."

"But Mom…" she whined.

"The answer is no Ella, and I don't wanna here another word about it. besides, we need you to stay and watch the Flock."

"What'd **you** do to get grounded?" I asked Ella, holding back a laugh.

"She's failing Math, and she snuck out of the house last week to go to the movies with her friends. It was pretty funny when she came home and snuck in through the window and saw me sitting on her bed waiting for her."

I started laughing my butt off. "I can't believe Ella actually did something bad!"

"Shut up." She said, ticked off by my constant laughing. "Just go get the Flock. Dinner's ready."

"Ok, ok. Calm down. I was kidding." I walked into the living room. "Guys, dinner's ready."

"Yay!" they all cheered. I walked up the stairs and into Ella's room. Nudge was still sleeping. I walked over to her, and stopped for a moment. Something smelled stail. It was weird since I hadn't smelled it before. I ignored it and went to wake up Nudge.

"Hey there sunshine. Walk. Dinner's ready." I said, shaking her a little.

"Ugh. Nh uh," she said, shaking her head in the pillow. Well at least that never changed. She was always hardest to walk up.

I rolled my eyes. "Nudge, get up now or-" then I stopped. I looked at where Nudge was laying. She was lying in a puddle of pee. She wet the bed. And not just Any bed, but Ella's bed. "Oh crap!" I whispered.

I picked up Nudge, and took her into the bathroom. I turned the water on and started stripping her. Once the water was perfect, I placed her in the tub.

"Max, why I gots to take baf?" she asked.

"Cause you accidently peed in Ella's bed." I was, washing her.

"Oopsy." She said, a little sadly. "She mad?"

"Well she doesn't know yet." But of course, my luck wasn't that good.

"Max? What's taking so long?" Ella said, coming up the stairs.

"Ella, wait, don't-" I tried before….

"AAAAAHHHHH!!!!! MY BED!!!!" she screamed.

"Oh boy." I said.

_**Ok. So that's the new chapter. I used a lot of different ideas from many different reviews, so I hope you liked it. please review, and thank all you guys for your support of me and my friend. I'm workin up a new chapter for this story, so I'll try to put somethin up soon.**_

_**Thanks!**_

_**Remember: Keep reading, writing, and reviewing!**_

_**Later!**_

_**-Dt2009 With Dark Blue Wings (spreads wings and flies away)**_


	8. Chapter 7: Ella's in Charge

Chapter 7: Ella's in charge

I woke up the next morning, and decided to check on the flock. I walked into the spare bedroom that they were all currently sharing, and watched as they all slept peacefully. Watching them have fun and not having to worry about anything always brings a smile to my face.

I tiptoed out of the room quietly, and headed into the bathroom to get ready for the day. The day in Hell! I can't believe I had to go to the mall today. This wasn't exactly my idea of fun. The only good thing is that with a mini Nudge and a mini Angel stuck at home with a grounded Ella, I didn't have to worry about being drug through girl stores where the casual look is a freakin skirt!

After a nice shower, I through on a white t-shirt, some jeans, and my sneakers, and headed into the kitchen where Mom was making breakfast.

"Morning sweetie." She said, giving me a warm smile. God how I love living with her! I could get used to this.

"Morning." I said sitting down in a chair at the table.

"Sleep well?"

"I guess. But I keep having this really weird dream lately."

"Really? Is it like a nightmare, or anything like that?" she asked, a little concern in her voice.

"No. It's not a nightmare or anything like that. It's about me and Fang."

"Oh?"

"Yea. We're sitting in a field, and we're celebrating our one year wedding anniversary with a special picnic Iggy made us."

"Ok." She said sitting at the table with me while sipping on a cup of coffee.

"And the we take about how much we love each other, and-" I stopped when I realized what I had just said. "You didn't hear that." I said, blushing a little.

She giggled a little before saying, "Sure I didn't. Now you were saying?"

"Oh, right. So we're sitting under a tree, and this little girl with olive tone skin, dark eyes, and dirty blonde hair starts calling out for her mommy and daddy."

"How old was she?"

"I'd say about 2, maybe 3. Then Fang calls out to her, and she runs up to us, and hugs us, and says to Fang 'I love you daddy', and then says 'I love you mommy' to me. But I don't know what it means." I said laying my head on the table.

"Well, sounds like you're having a dream about your future family. I had a dream like that right after I –" she stopped like she had just seem a ghost.

"After what Mom?" I asked curiously.

"Right after I found out I was pregnant with Ella" she said slowly. She then set her mug down, and eyed me with her parental gaze. You know the one that can make you say or do anything that they tell you without question? Yea, that one. "Max, are you pregnant?" she asked, worry in her voice.

"What?! You're kidding right?" I asked. "There's no way I can be pregnant." Could there?

"Ok. Let me start at the beginning. How long have you and Fang been going out?" she asked.

"About six months or so." What was she getting at?

"Ok. Now it's very important you answer truthfully on this next question." She said. She then took a deep breath. "Are you and Fang sexually active?"

My face must have turned super red cause I could feel the blood rush to it. "Um…what?" I asked, still a little dumbfounded by her previous question.

"Are you and Fang having sex? Or have you had sex?" she said just as bluntly as before.

Well this was gonna be kinda awkward. "Well…um…you see…we uh…" I said, stammering over what to say. Well wouldn't you? Or do you guys out there have regular talks with your parents about do the deed with your significant other? In fact, go tell your parent that you've been going at it like little monkeys with your boyfriend, and see how they react.

"Maximum Ride, answer me." She said, getting annoyed by my stalling.

I took a deep breath, and let out a big sigh. "Yes…." I whispered.

"What? Speak up, I couldn't hear you." Man she was making this hard!

"I said yes. Fang and I have….well you know…" I said, looking down at the table. There was no way in hell I was gonna look her in the eye. I could practically feel her eyes burning on me.

"Ok. And did you use protection?" she asked.

"Well. The first two times, we did. Fang and Iggy bought one each when we went into town a couple months ago as a dare to each other. The first time we planned on it, we started, but I told him not without protection, and he surprised me when he pulled it out of his pocket. Then, the second time, he barrowed Iggy's. Then, the third time was kinda an accident."

"How was it an accident? You can't accidently have sex Max." she said sternly.

"You can when you accidently get drink spiked punch.."I said in a low voice.

"What?!"

"We went to stay at a hotel, and they were having some teen club party in the ballroom, so Fang, Iggy and I decided to check it out. Well, turns out someone spiked the punch, and the three of us got drunk, and one thing lead to another…"

"Ok. I've heard more than enough. When we go to the mall, we'll pick up a couple of test."

"Ok." I said, still looking down at the table. God, I hope I'm not pregnant. I can't handle taking care of the mini flock while trying not to be stressed out so I don't harm a baby that's growing inside of me.

"Morning." Ella said cheerfully walking into the room.

"Morning." I said, smiling at her.

"So since I have to watch the Flock, is there anything I need to know?" she asked, taking a seat next to me.

"Um, let's see." I said, trying to concentrate. "Nudge and Gazzy like to argue over stupid little things. When they explain their sides of the story, don't pick one. That'll just cause more arguing."

"Ok."

"Angel shouldn't really cause you much trouble. Be careful around Fang though."

"Why?"

"He has a bad habit of biting people. That's one of the reasons why we named him Fang. If he gets angry enough, he'll bite you."

"Ouch." She said, shuddering a little.

"Watch Iggy. I cannot stress that enough. He is a sneak it pyro. If given the chance, he's blow up the whole house. Keep him in sight at all times."

"Wait, then how come you left them all alone in my room yesterday?" she eyed me suspiciously.

"Because he know's I'll kick his tiny skinny butt from here to next week if he does."

"Ok. Anything else?"

"Keep them inside. I don't want them jumping out of trees and trying to fly." Mom added.

"Ok. Sounds easy enough." She said cheerfully.

"If you need anything, call me on Mom's phone," I said as I stood to my feet, and headed toward the door with Mom right behind me.

"Ok. Have fun, and Max,"

"Yea?"

"Try to get some actually nice clothes for them. It's bad enough you walk around like that, but don't torture everyone else. Especially Nudge and Angel." Ella said, trying to hold back her smile.

I rolled my eyes, and replied, "Haha. Very funny."

**Ella's POV**

I walked into the living room to find that the flock was already awake and was watching SpongeBob. "Hey, when did you guys get up?"

"After yous." Iggy said, turning away from the TV to look at me.

"But doesn't Max usually wake you guys up?"

"No. we waked up ourselves. We wants to watch Pongebob!" gazzy said cheerfully.

"Um, ok." I said, sitting on the couch next to Fang, who wasn't even paying attention to the TV. His face had tear streaks on them, and he was pouting. "What's wrong Fang?"

He just sat there and pouted. He didn't even look at me. _Well this is gonna be a fun day. _I thought sarcastically.

"He mad." Iggy said.

"Why?"

"Cause Maxie leave wit outs hims." Iggy said, giggling a little.

"Shuts up Iggy." Fang yelled at him.

"Fang, it's not nice to tell people to shut up. Say sorry." I said, scolding him a little.

"Sorry." He said, still pouting.

"And Iggy, it's not nice to make fun of people. You say sorry too."

"Ok. I sorry." He said. He then jumped onto the couch, and hugged Fang. Now, I thought that was kinda cute, and nice of Iggy. Apparently, Fang didn't. He pushed Iggy off the couch, cause him to scrap his arm on the corner of the table.

Iggy just looked up in shock at Fang before he let out an ear piercing cry. "He pushed me!....he mean….push….hurt my arm!" he cried, stammering, and struggling over his words as he sobbed between each word.

I jumped off the couch, and picked Iggy up, holding him tight in my arms as he cried. "Fang! Why did you do that?!"

"I still mad at hims."

"That doesn't mean you can push him off the couch!" I stood up and cradled Iggy in my right arm. "You're going to time-out." Which was their room. I grabbed his arm, and pulled him off the couch.

"NO!" he tried to yell at me, and yank his hand away. Luckily, I was stronger than him. For once. I dragged a kicking and screaming Fang, who was the one crying now, to their room, and sat him on the bed.

"Now you're gonna sit here until I say so. Ok?" he nodded his head, and started pouting and crying again. I closed the door, and walked into the bathroom. I sat Iggy on the counter, and started rummaging through the medicine cabinet for something to cut up his little cut. Once I found it, I took out a SpongeBob Band-Aid, and started cleaning it.

"Ow! That hurt." He said.

"I know, but look, I'm all done." I said, placing the band-aid on his arm. I kissed, and smiled at him. "There. All better?"

"Yes. Thank you Elly." He said, warping his arms around my neck, and kissed me on the cheek.

"Aw. Thank you Iggy." I said, hugging him. I picked him up, and took him back into the living with the other. As soon as I did, Gazzy and Nudge were fighting over the remote. "Hey, what's going on here?"

"SpongeBob go bye-bye, and I wants to watch cat and mouse fight." Gazzy said, still struggling to get the remote.

"You mean Tom and Jerry?" I asked.

"Yea! But Nudge no want to, so she try to take mote from me."

"I no want watch cat and mouse. Me wanna watch Sis Sis!" she yelled.

"You mean Sister Sister?"

"Yea!"

I sighed, and took the remote from them. "I'll pick what we watch." I said, searching through the channels. I finally settled on Scooby Doo Marathon on CartoonNetwork. I decided that now was a good time to check up on Fang.

I walked up the stairs and to their room. I opened the door to find Fang sitting on the bed and staring at the door. "I not in time out no mores?" he asked meekly.

"Are you gonna be good?"

"Yes."

"Ok. Then you can-"

"BOOM!" I turned and headed down the stairs to find a small hole in the floor. The smell of burnt carpet filled the air as I stared at four pair of looked up at me. Angel started crying, and walked over to me as fast as she could. I picked her up, and tried to calm her down.

"What the hell did you guys do?!"

"Iggy taked the mote, and he played wit it, then he pressed some buttons, and tolded us to move back, and then it blowed up."

Oh crap. That was Max's number one rule. Watch Iggy carefully. "Iggy!" I said. I looked around the room, but didn't see him anywhere. He must have run off to hide. Then, I got an idea. "Ok, we're gonna play a little game. It's called, find Iggy. Whoever helps me look gets ice cream. Ok?"  
"Yea!" they all cheered, and ran off to look for him. Well everyone except Angel, who just looked at me with those big blue eyes.

"Don't worry Angel. You still get ice cream even though you can't look for him." I said, smiling, and tapping my finger on her cute little nose. She smiled and stated to giggle.

_Bed! _She thought to me.

"Bed?" I asked curiously.

_Iggy bed!_

"Oh! The bed rooms! But which one?"

She pointed down the hall. The only bedroom down the hall was my Mom's. I walked into her room, and started checking around the room. I started with the closet, and slowly made my way around the room. I looked just about everywhere. Even here private bathroom. Well everywhere except under her bed. Angel started giggling. She must have read my thoughts.

"Well Angel. I guess Iggy isn't here. I guess that means he doesn't want any ice cream." I said, walking out of the room. I stood by the door, and waited for him to take the bait.

"I want ice cream!" Iggy yelled running out of the room, and right into my arm.

"Gotcha!"

"You tricked me!" he said, pouting.

"Yea, but you should be worried about what Max and Mom are gonna do when they come home and see that hole in the carpet." I said. _This is gonna be a long day._

**Max's POV**

So we finally made it back from our trip to hell, and I gotta say, it wasn't that bad. Going shopping with Mom is fun, were as being drug around with Angel, Nudge, and Ella, is not.

As soon as we walked in, I saw Ella sitting at the table with her head down. I walked over to her, and rubbed her back. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I'm tired. So very tired…" she said, not even looking at me.

"What happened?"

"First, Fang was mad cause you left him, then he pushed Iggy off the couch, then Nudge and Gazzy where fight over the remote, then, Iggy blew up the remote-"

"What happened to my carpet?!" My screamed from the other room.

"That's where Iggy blew the remote up."

"Holy crap." I said, examining the hole in the floor. "Where are they now?"

"Taking a nap in their room. I think I'm gonna take some medicine from my head, and take a nap too." She said as she shuffled up the stairs.

I walked up the stairs with all their new clothes, and quietly opened the door. I looked at them as they all slept peacefully. It's hard to believe that inside those cute little kids, are the devil's minions. After I put away their clothes, I took the three pregnancy test Mom had bought me, and headed to the bathroom.

After the five minutes of torture that I had to endure to wait for the results, I read the first one. "Positive." My blood ran cold through my veins. I picked up the second test and read it. "Negative." I started to feel better, but then realized that whatever the last test said, would be the deciding facture. This next test was the most important test.

"And the last on is…

**To Be Continued….**

**Haha! Now you have to wait! I know it's mean, but I wanna see what you guys think is gonna happen. So review and let me know what you think is gonna be the answer to the test. Also, did anyone catch a few sparks between Iggy and Ella? Yes? No? let me know.**

**Remember: Keep reading, writing, and reviewing!**

**Later!**


	9. Chapter 8:Sleepless Nights

**First off, I wanna thank all my reviewers. I cant believe how many reviews I got for this chapter! I mean, before this, it was 86 reviews, and now, 108! That's amazing, and its all because of you guys. Second, I know you're ready to find out if Max is pregnant. Well guess what, I'm not gonna tell you! You have to use those detective skills and read the story very carefully to find out if she is. If you figure it out by the end of the chapter, the answer will be at the bottom of the page. So, enjoy!**

Chapter 8: Sleepless Nights

"Maxie?" I heard a little voice call me.

I was lying in my bed, trying to sleep, when someone walked in, and started calling my name. I checked my clock. It was 2:21 am. "Fang, why aren't you in bed?" I asked tiredly.

"I haded a ad dream, so I came looking for yous." He said, in a sad, scared little voice.

I slowly got up, and helped him on to my bed. "What happened?" I asked he laid on my stomach. So that's what it feels like. I always wondered what it was like for Fang to have me lie on his chest.

"It was scwary. Theres was this really mean looking monster. It haded claws, and sharp fangs-"

"Sharper then your's?" I asked,pulling his upper lip up slightly. I could see that his new fang had just grown in. He'd been complaining the last couple days that it hurt, and since I knew he wouldn't bite me, I checked, and saw that he had a new Fang growing in.

"Yea! And it haded red eyes, and was all shiny!" he said, throwing his hands in the air to express its size.

"Well that does sound scary." It also sounded like the movie monster that we say last night. The kids, and Ella, begged me to let them watch a scary movie since I was left in charge. After ten minutes of "Please?" and "We promise we won't get scared", I agreed. 5 minutes in, Nudge was screaming her head off, Fang was trying to be Mr. Tough Guy, Iggy was hiding his face in Ella's shirt, Ella was trying to make Iggy feel better without screaming herself, and I was just sitting there like it was nothing. I put Angel to bed early, and Gazzy said he didn't want to watch a movie, so he went to bed on his own.

"It was." He said, yawning. "I wanna stay here with you tonights." He said, snuggling up to me.

"Fine. But just for tonight." I said, smoothing out his messy hair.

"Night night Maxie." He said, before he started snoring softly.

"Night Fang." I said, kissing his forehead. That's when I noticed something. I laid my hand on his forehead, and he was burning up. Fang was running a fever. "I'd better go get Mom." I whispered to myself. I gently laid Fang on my bed, and tiptoed out of my room. I ran down the stairs, and was headed for Mom's room, when I saw that the kitchen light was on.

I walked into the kitchen to find Mom sitting at the table, drinking a glass of milk, and eating some cookies. She hadn't noticed that I walked in since her back was turned to me. I giggled, and wrapped my arms around her slowly.

"AAAH!" she yelled, jumping out of her seat a little before turning around, and seeing me there. "My god Max, you almost gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry bout that, but I need your help. Fang came into my room after having a bad dream, and when I put my hand on his head, he seemed kinda feverish, so I figured I'd as you."

"Ok. Let go see." She said, getting up from her chair, and walking up the stair with me right behind her. " So I saw the test." She said, calmly.

"Oh, you did?"

"Yep." She said, walking over to the bed, and placing her hand on Fang's head. "And-" she stopped and looked at Fang, whose face was now flushed, and a little sweaty. "Oh my goodness."

"What?" I asked, worriedly.

"He does have a fever. And a high one at that." She said, picking him up, and handing him to me. "Run him a cold bath. I'm going to get my medical bag and check on the other. How are you feeling?"

"I'm ok."

"Are you sure?"

"Yea. I'm fine."

"Ok. I'll be there in a minute." She said as she went to check up on everyone else. I headed straight for the bathroom, and cradled Fang as he leaned on my shoulder.

"Max?" Fang called out weakly. "I don't feel good." He said, rubbing his head into my shoulder.

"I know sweetie. It's gonna be ok. Mom gonna get you some medicine, and then you're gonna get all better."

"Ok." He said as put him down. I started to remove his shirt, when he turned, and threw up in the toilet. I rubbed his back as he upchucked his dinner into the toilet. Once he was finished, I wiped his mouth, and finished undressing him. I placed him in the tub, and started pouring water on him. "It cold!" he complained.

"I know, but we have to get your fever down." I said, apologetically.

"No cold baf!" he said, trying to stand up and get out of the tub.

"Fang sit down." I said, pushing him back down.

"No!" he continued to protest. God. Is this what it's like to be a parent of a 5 year old? This is hell! Then again, he might just be stubborn cause he's Fang.

"Fang, sit down, or your gonna get a spanking." I threatened. I wasn't really gonna do it, but he doesn't need to know that.

"No!" he said, sitting down. "I be good."

"Good boy." I said, splashing more water on him. I wonder if baby boys are more stubborn then girls?

I remember in my dream, I had a daughter. She seemed to listen pretty well, but then again, it was just a dream. I have no idea how she's really gonna act.

"How's doing?" Mom asked, walking in with her medical bag.

"He's being stubborn, but seems to be cooling off." I said.

"Good. I talked to Jeb on the phone, and he said it may have been a reaction to the gas. Everyone else seems to ok."

"Well that's good. But he did throw up before I put in the tub."

"Ok." She said, putting the thermometer in his mouth and placing her hand on his head. After about a minute, she took it out, and read it. " 100.1. that's not too high, but we still need to watch it to make sure it doesn't increase."

"Ok." I said wrapping Fang in a towel, and following mom to my room. I sat him on the bed, and went into his bag and grabbed him another pair of underwear and pajamas. Once he was fully dressed, I tucked him in, and walked back into the kitchen with Mom.

"So how's the research going on the antidote?" I asked, picking up a cookie.

"So far, unsuccessful. We've been using the flock's blood and a sample of the gas in liquid form, and trying to isolate the gas in it, but it's harder than we thought. I'm working on a vaccine that will destroy the gas in their systems permanently, while Jeb is working on a way to turn the gas into an antidote. With the combination of the two, we can insure that this will never happen again."

"Sounds good." I said, starting on my fifth cookie. God these things are to die for!

"So how's my granddaughter doing?" she asked, placing a hand on my stomach.

I smiled a little. "I'm not sure. I just found out she was there a couple hours ago. I still can't believe it. I'm going to be a mom at 15." My birthday was next month, and I guess I was getting an early present.

"It's going to be tough, but I'm sure you and Fang will be great parents." She said, smiling at me. "So did you ever figure out how far along you are?"

"About three months. That was about the time when Fang used Iggy's condom, so my guess is that it broke, and we didn't realize it."

"I see. Well at least you'll be getting in a lot of practice being a parent." She said, laughing a little.

"Yea, but the next six months are gonna be hell." I groaned, and placed my head on the table before mom and I started laughing.

**Ok. So if you could wait to read and figure out if Max was pregnant, then you jumped straight to the bottom. Well good job cheater cause I didn't put it here!...lol**

**But to everyone who's mad about my choice, let me explain. When I did the last chapter, I was still undecided, and that's why I did it. But before I wrote this one, I had to think about how I wanted to set up the sequel (and yes, there will be a sequel. And it's all thanks to my reviewer). **

**If you didn't like the choice I made, I respect your opinion, and understand if you choose to stop reading the story. And I will except your flames. But to all my reviewers who are going to continue, and agree to stay, I love you all! **

**Remember: Keep reading, writing, and reviewing!**

**Later!**


	10. Chapter 9:Fang?

_**Ok. So I have a very good reason why I haven't updated in a while: My computer was broken. I couldn't see anything on the screen, and I was acting stupid. So I sent it to the company to get it fixed, and they erased everything on it even though they said I'd still have everything. So now, I have to re-type everything!!! AAAAHHHH!!!! But enough of my problems. On with the story!**_

Chapter 9: Fang!?

"Ok, I want everyone to stay away from Fang while he's sick. Got it?" I said as we all finished eating dinner.

"Ok." The Flock all said in unison.

"Good. Now you can watch cartoons."

"Yay!" they cheered as they ran straight to the living room, Ella not far behind.

I sighed. _Glad to see you care about Fang's health. _I thought bitterly. Speaking of Fang, I still haven't decided how I was going to tell him he was gonna be a dad. Of course I wasn't gonna tell him now. I mean he's sick, and stuck as a five year old. That really wouldn't go over well.

"Maxie…" Fang whined from his room. "I hungy…"

"Coming Fang." I called as I picked up the tray of food Mom had made for him before she went shopping. I carried it up the stairs, and as I passed the mirror, I stopped to look at myself, for something caught my eye. My stomach. It was bulging. I had a freaking baby bump. "Oh my god. I'm getting fat." I said to myself. "And it's all Fang's fault. I'm gonna kill him when this is all over." I mumbled.

"Uh, Max?" I turned away from the mirror, and came face to face with my confused little sister. "Are you ok? You were mumbling to yourself."

"NO I'M NOT OK, ELLA! I'M FAT, AND IT'S ALL FANG'S FAULT!" I yelled at her. Of course I wasn't trying to, but that's what happens when you're pregnant. I stomped down the hall, leaving Ella confused, and slightly scared. I walked into Fang's room, and placed the food down in front of him. "Here you go."

"Tank yous." He said as he picked up the spoon and started slurping his soup. That's right, SLURPING HIS SOUP!

"Fang! Don't you ever slurp your soup! It's rude!" I scolded him harshly.

Tears started to form in his eyes. "S-sawry Maxie…" he said, sniffling, and trying not to cry.

I looked into his eyes, and instantly felt bad for yelling at him. Stupid pregnancy hormones! I wrapped him in a tight hug, and smoothed his pitch black hair. I could feel that he still had a fever, but it wasn't as bad as it was last night when he went to bed.

"It's ok Fang. I'm sorry for yelling at you. I didn't mean to, it's just….I'm going through a lot right now." Man that was corny. How many times have you heard that on a sitcom or soap opera? Too many, that's how many.

"Maxie ok?" he asked, concern in his eyes.

I smiled and nodded. He's the one with the fever and he's concerned about me. "now finish your food."

"Oks." He said, continuing with his soup.

_What the hell is wrong with me?! First I yell at Ella over nothing, and now, I'm freaking out on Fang….and I still have 6 months to go._

Just then the door bell rang. "Ella, get the door."

"Ok." A few seconds later, she was calling me downstairs. "Max, it's for you."

"I'll be right back Fang. Ok?" I asked. He nodded his head happily as I got up and went downstairs to be by Jeb.

"Hello Max." he said, causally.

"Hey. Please tell me that you found a way to cure the flock."

"Unfortunately, I haven't. I may be close to a break through, but it's going to take a little more time."

"Ugh. Then why are you here?" I asked impatiently.

"Your mother told me about Fang's reaction to the gas. This actually happened to a couple of experiments back at the School, and they created an antidote. I was lucky enough to get my hands on it, and thought I'd bring it here for him."

"Oh. Uh, thanks, I guess. So how do we give it to him?"

"He has to get a shot."

"What!? Are you insane!? You know we hate shots, especially Fang."

"I know, but it's the only way for the antidote to work."

"How do you know it'll even work or that it's even safe?"

"Well, if I had a blood sample, I could check, and then we'd know for sure."

"So now you want to give him two shots? You really have lost it."

"Well that's why I need you to help me."

"What!? No way. I'm not gonna betray Fang like that."

"Max please. He trust you more than anyone else. If any of us tried it, it would end horribly. But if you did, he wouldn't panic at all."

"No. I'm not gonna go behind Fang's back like that. You're out of your mind."

"Max, do you want Fang to get better, or not?"

Damn it. He had me there. He was right. I did want Fang to get better, but I wasn't sure if I could trust him. I had to make a choice. "How much blood to you need?"

"Not much. Maybe half a syringe. If you can keep him calm, and hold him down, I can get what I need, and be done with it."

I took a deep breath. "Fine." I said, reluctantly. "Half a syringe, 30 seconds. If you're notdone that, I' letting him go, and you're on your own. Got it?"

"Understood."

We walked up the stairs, and I stopped in front of Fang's door. Was this really a good idea? Was I able to trust Jeb? Would I regret it later? Do I really have a choice? "Wait here. When I give you the signal, you get in, get what you need, and get out."

"Ok."

I walked into the room to see Fang sleeping. Maybe this would be easier than I thought. "Ok Jeb. He's sleeping. Do it." I said, trying to keep calm about what I was about to let Jeb tdo to Fang.

I watched closely as Jeb stuck the needle into Fang's arm, and started drawing blood. Just when it looked like we were gonna be done with this once and for all, Fang wakes up.

"Ah!" he screamed as loud as he could. Before I could react to the situation, Fang bit down on Jeb's arm as hard as he could.

Jeb released the syringe, and held his arm where Fang had bitten him. Fang grabbed the syringe, and pulled it out of him arm. He then leaped off the bed, and ran for the door, which Jeb left open.

"Crap!" I said as I took off after him. By the time I got into the hall, Fang was already down the stairs, and running through the living room. "Fang, stop!" I shouted after him.

He ran straight for the front door, grabbing the knob, and twisting it with all his might. Lucky for me, he doesn't have the height, and not nearly enough strength in his current condition to open the door himself.

I was seconds away from grabbing him, when the door opened, and Mom walked in. Seeing this as a perfect chance, Fang ran out the door, and into the pouring rain.

"Max! What is going on!?" she asked as I ran past her.

"Later Mom!" I called as I ran after Fang. When I got outside and into the rain, Fang was gone. "Fang!" I shouted. I ran to the street, and looked up and down them for him. He couldn't have gotten that far, and he was smart enough not to fly out into the open like that cause I would see him. But he was nowhere in site. "Fang!" I screamed again.

Ok, picture this: You're a pregnant teenager, standing outside in the rain, screaming like a mad man, and looking for your five year old boyfriend who is sick with a high fever. Yea, doesn't look too good, does it?

I opened my wing, ready to face the storm and look for him, when my mom came outside to get me. "Max! You have to get inside and out of the rain before you get sick!"

"Fang!" I screamed again as she drug me inside.

Once inside, she wrapped a towel around e, and sat me on the couch so I could warm up. "Max, what happened?"

"Fang…" I said absent mindedly. That's when it all snapped into perspective. "Jeb…"

"What?"

"Jeb…this is all his fault!" I shouted as I jumped off the couch, and ran up the stairs. Jeb was in the bathroom, wrapping his arm from the bite wound he suffered via Fang. "You!" I yelled, pointing my finger at him. "This is all your fault!"

"Max, calm down. What are you-"

"Don't tell me to calm down! It's all your fault that Fang's gone! You and your stupid 'Antidote'! Thanks to you, Fang's outside in the cold rain, probably catching his death!"

"Max, please calm down. This isn't getting us any closer to finding Fang. We have to find him, and soon, or else."

"Or else what!?" what else could possibly happen?

"Or else he could die." Of (beeping) course.

"What!?"

"If Fang get any sicker than he is now, the virus from the illness could mix with his reaction to the gas, causing all of his systems to fail, causing him to die."

My heart must have stopped for a couple of seconds as I stared awestruck at Jeb. Why is it every time Jeb comes around, he brings nothing but bad news? "OH. MY. GOD….." I said. Next thing you know, everything was going black, and I could feel myself falling.

**3****rd**** Person POV**

Fang beat his small wings as hard as they would go. He held his arms around his small body, trying to keep warm out in the cold, rain filled night. He was cold, wet, and hurt.

When he ran from the house, he ran around to the backyard. He hid in the bushes until Max had gone back inside. Once safe, he climbed out of the bushes, but scraped his arms and legs on the loose twigs. Once out in the open, Fang took the sky in search of a good hiding spot.

Fang hated needles, and hated getting shots more than anything else, and was determined to avoid getting one at all cost. As he soared threw the sky, lightning struck, scaring him into sock and causing him to stop flapping his wings. As he fell to the earth, he closed his eyes tight, and screamed at the top of his lungs.

He crashed into a couple of tree branches before landing in the grass under it. Fang looked at himself. His pajamas were torn, dirty, and covered in blood. His body hurt, and he probably had a couple of broken. He was wet, covered in mud, and cold.

"Maxie…." He called out weakly before blacking out.

_**To Be Contined….**_

_**Ok. Super sad, right? What exactly is gonna happen to Fang? And what about Max? will they find him in enough time to save him, or is it too late? Keep reading people!**_

_**Remember: Keep reading, writing, and reviewing!**_

_**Later!**_

_**-Dt2009 with Dark Blue Wings**_


	11. Chapter 10: Operation Find Fang!

Chapter 10: Mission Find Fang, is in Effect!

"Fang, Fang, FANG!" I shouted as I jerked up from my sleep. "Damn it! Not again!" I said to myself. It's been a week since Fang ran off. I always hoped that it was a dream, and that I'd walk into the room the flock was sleeping in, and he's be there, sleeping peacefully, but he never was.

I let out a sigh, and slowly climbed out of bed. Damn this stupid baby bump! Oh, right I didn't tell you, did I? So apparently, because of all the mutations in my DNA, we reproduce faster then humans. So, in a week, I went from slightly bulging, to prego city! And these cramps are killing me! Not to mention I never get any sleep cause this kid doesn't know how to settle down!

I also found out that my due date is in 2 weeks. The same time as when the flock is supposed to be turned back to normal. Which is also the same time that they're supposed to….uh, kick the bucket. Great. Just freakin great.

I waddled my way down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Morning sweetie." Mom greeted me cheerfully.

"Morning…" I grumbled as I looked at the table.

Jeb, who was looking over some papers, let out a heavy sigh. "Max, I know you're depressed about Fang, but moping around here won't help you. You need to get over it. He'll be fine, but you need to focus on your mission.

I looked up from the table, and gave him the hardest glare I could muster up. "How dare you!?" I shouted at him. "Who do you think you are, telling me what to do!? My best frined, right hand man, and the FATHER of my child is out there, hurt, sick, and on the verge of dying because of whatever you wackos infected them with, and all you give a damn about is some stupid mission that I want NO part of!?" I yelled at him angrily.

"Max, you need to calm down and-"

"NO! You don't tell me what the hell I need to do! I'm sick of all this!" I shouted, holding my head in my hand. "And this is all your fault! If you didn't try to give Fang a shot, this wouldn't have happened!"

Mom walked over to me and started rubbing my back as I cried my eyes out. Jeb hadn't said a word since I finished, and, if he knew what was good for him, he wouldn't.

"I know you're worried about Fang, but right now, you need to focus on the flock and the baby. Fang is smart. He can handle himself. And I promise, as soon as we find a cure, we're gonna find Fang." She said, hugging me.

"But we don't have a lot of time." I said as panic started to rise in my voice. Yes, you read right, I started to panic. It's not me, it's the pregnancy hormones! I swear!

"I know, and we're working as fast as we can. I promise you. We almost have it down, but we're just missing one last component." She said sadly.

"Do you think you'll know what it is before the two weeks are up?"

"I can't promise you anything, but we'll keep trying." She said with a soft smile.

"Thanks." I said, trying to smile back.

Just then, Jeb's face lightened up. "Wait a moment…" he said. "I may be on to something here…" he said, setting his mug down, and looking closely at his papers. "Yes…that's it!" he shouted. "That's the key! I can't believe I didn't notice it before!"

"What is it Jeb?" Mom said, walking over to him.

"Right here, Valencia. That's the keep component! It's so simple!"

Mom's face lit up when she saw what he was pointing at. "Oh my god…." She whispered. "That's it! That's the key!" she yelled excitedly.

"Will someone please tell me what you're talking about? What did you find?" I asked, slightly annoyed by being kept in the dark.

"Max, it's so simple." Jeb said. "If you just think about all the experiments that you've seen over the years, which one's did you see the most?"

"Well the Erasers of course. But what does-" I stopped when I realized what I had just said. The Erasers. "The Erasers…."I whispered. "They aged into adults after they where changed."

"Exactly. So all we have to do is take the same genes that we used to age the Erasers…" he trailed off.

"…to turn the flock back to normal!" I said, standing to my feet. "Jeb, you're a genius!"

"Why, thank you."

"But wait, this isn't going to change them into Erasers or speed up their expiration dates, is it?"

"No. the only reason any of that happened to the Erasers is because when we combined their DNA with so many different components, their DNA became unstable."

"Oh thank god. If I had to raise a flock of Eraser-fied bird kids, I think I would lose what's left of my sanity."

"Now that we know what we need, I have to go and get the necessary materials. Once I do, I'll bring over here, and we can use it to eliminate the remnants of the gas in their systems. I should be back with it tomorrow."

"That's good. How long will it take for the flock to revert back to normal?" Mom asked.

"No more than 3 days. Unfortunately, they will be sleeping the whole time."

"Why would they be sleeping?" I asked.

"The aging process that we used on the Erasers is a painful one. Because their body's have to grow, they will experience growing pains. As a way to make it less painful, we designed it so that before the aging begins, the person will be put into a deep sleep."

"So is that why they were sleeping when I found them in the hotel room?"

"Most likely. It's the exact same as the aging, but in reverse."

"Ok. So by the end of the week, we need to put Operation: Find Fang into effect." I said, slamming my fist down on the table.

"Agreed." Mom said, standing next to me, and giving me a warm smile.

**3****rd**** Person POV**

Fang awake to the sound of people talking.

"Please mom? We can't just give him away! We have to help him." A girl argued.

"Look, Melody, I know you want to help him, but we can't afford to take care of another child. We're barely making it by with you and your brother. And you know as well as I do that he's different. You saw them."

Fang was confused. He remembered almost nothing that had happened to him. _Where is I? Where Maxie ats? Where Iggy? Nudgey? Gazzy? Angel? Where is you? _He called out to her in his head, but got no response. He started to worry, when he heard something that put him on edge.

"Ok, so he has wings. Big deal."

Fang's heart jumped up into his throat. They knew about his wings. This was a serious problem. If they called someone, the school could find him, and if they did, he screwed.

"It is a big deal. We have no idea where he came from. Someone could be looking for him."

"Even more of a reason to protect him. He was all alone, lying under a tree, covered in mud, had a broken leg, and was out cold! He needs someone to take care of him."

"Well it won't be us." Her mother said sternly. "If he was out there in that condition, then there has to be a reason why."

"So what are you gonna do mom? Just throw him out? Give him to an orphanage?" Melody asked angrily.

"No. We'll take a picture of him and put up lost child posters around the neighborhood. We'll also ask him if he knows where he lives. That's the best I can do for him Mel."

She let out a heavy sigh. "Ok. I'll go see if he's awake yet."

Fang's sense went on hyperdrive as he heard her making her way up the stairs. He stood to his feet on the bed, but instantly feel back down, and let out an ear piercing cry. He looked down at his right leg to find it in a cast. He grabbed it, and rocked back and forth as the pain rocked through his entire leg.

"You a real little genius, aren't ya?" She said, sitting on the bed next to him, and pushing a few stray strands of hair from his face. "I'm Melody, but you can call me Mel. What's your name?"

Fang was very cautious. "Nick."

"How old are you?"

"I 5. How olds is yous?" he asked.

"I'm 15. What were you doing all by yourself out in the rain, and under the tree?"

"I don't remembers." He lied.

"Do you know where you live?"

Fang was about to answer her question, when he suddenly remembered all the events that got him into this mess. He remembered Jeb trying to give him a shot, running from the house, and Max looking for him. But why would Max let Jeb give him a shot? Did she not want him? "No. I no knows where I lives." He said, sadly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. But don't worry. We'll take care of you until we find out where you live and where your family is." She rubbed his back to try to comfort him. "You must have been pretty tired. You've been sleeping for the last week."

"I was?" he asked.

"Yea. If we hadn't taken you to the hospital when we found you, the doctor said you would have died."

"Wow…" was all he could say. The only thing that was running through his mind now was that he only had 2 weeks until the effects of the gas would wear of, and he would die. He had to find a way back to the flock, and fast, before it was too late.

_**Ok. So I have a very good reason why I haven't updated. Every week for the last month, I've had to write papers. Lots and lots of papers. Then, by the time I was done, I didn't feel like writing anymore. But, luckily, I'm on break for the next week, so I'm gonna try to update as much as possible. so until next time, review!**_

_**Remember: Keep reading, writing, and reviewing!**_

_**Later!**_

_**-Dt2009 with Dark Blue Wings**_


	12. Chapter 11:Take Your Medicine!

Chapter 11:Take Your Medicine!

Jeb had just got back with the aging component, and was trying to find a way to get the Flock to take it since the whole shot thing was out the window. Especially after the last time he tried to give one of them a shot, and we are now short a Flock member.

"Well we could force them to drink it. Tell them that it's medicine that they have to take." He suggested as he, Mom, Ella, and I sat around the kitchen table.

"You honestly think that you can force any of them to drink a strange blue liquid?" I asked, questioning his sanity as I did. "You can probably _trick_ Iggy or Gazzy into drinking it, but the girls won't go for it."

"True. Does the liquid have to drunk for it to work?" Mom asked. "I mean, can it be absorbed through the skin?"

"No. It has to go into the body and either go straight into the bloodstream, or digest so it can circulate through them." Jeb explained.

"Maybe Max can just threaten them until they do it." Ella suggested with a smile on her face.

"I show you a threat." I said, putting my fist near her face.

"Easy, easy Max." she said as she lifted her hands in defeat. "It was just a joke."

"Well we need actual ideas right now, not jokes."

"Ok, ok. What if you slip it into their food and drinks? That way, they won't know the difference, and you guys won't have to get your hands dirty, so to speak."

"Ella…that's brilliant!" I shouted, hugging her.

"Jeez, one minute you're threatening to kick my butt, the next you're hugging me. Man, pregnancy must really be gettin to ya." She giggled. I rolled my eyes and sat back into my seat.

"We're gonna have to be really careful with doing this. If Angel reads our minds, she may think that we're trying to hurt them, and she'll warn them. And we also have to distract Iggy."

"Why?" Ella asked, confusion clear on her face.

"Even though he has his sight back, he could still have his other senses heightened. If that's the case-"

"He may smell the chemical in the food, and the same scenario as with Angel would happen."

"Oh." She said, looking down at the table. "So how do you suppose that we distract them?"

"We could put Spongebob on," Mom suggested.

I rolled my eyes before stating, "I know they have short attentions, but not when it comes to their health. We knew better than that. But it was a funny suggestion." I said, giggling, which in turn, got me a death glare from Ella. "What?"

"Oh sure, Mom makes a joke, you giggle like a school girl. I make one, I get a fist shoved in my face. Real fair Max." she pouted in her chair.

I took this time to make her feel bad. I pretended to want to cry, and put my head down on my arms. "You're right Ella. That wasn't fair." I said as tears started to build in my eyes. "I'm so sorry, I-I just…this whole pregnancy thing, and Fang missing, and the Flock, and you, and Mom, and Jeb- I just don't know what to do anymore." I said, bursting into fake tears. Man, I should win a Oscar for this.

I heard Ella get up from her chair, and walk over to me. She put her arms around me, and held me as I "sobbed". "Max, I didn't mean it. I wasn't trying to be mean, it's just- I don't know. I'm sorry. Please stop-" but she was cut short by my body shaking with laughter. I couldn't control myself any longer. The sheer sound of her apology and the fact that she thought I was serious, just made me wanna hit the floor laughing.

"I can't believe you thought I was really crying over something like that!" I said, holding my stomach as it ached with laughter. "I'm Maximum Ride. Super tough. Mutant freak, and fearless Flock leader. I don't get upset by insults, no matter how pregnant I am."

"You bitch!" Ella yelled, shoving me a little. And let me tell you, that didn't go over to well with Mom.

"Ella! Watch your language in this house young lady!" Mom scolded.

"Sorry Mom!" she said quickly, blushing from embarrassment, cause me to laugh even more, which then caused Ella to glare at me. "I hope you choke on a cookie." She said, stomping her feet up the stairs.

"Yea,yea. It was a joke. Don't have a hissy fit over it." I called up the stairs. That's when it hit me. "And thanks for the other idea too!"

"What idea?" Mom asked me.

"The cookies."

"Max, this is hardly the time to be thinking about making cookies." She said, clearly not getting what I was saying.

"Oh yes it is. We could put the antidote into the cookie batter and bake them, that way, Iggy can't smell it, and Angel will be distracted from the smell and taste, he won't be reading our minds, and the will have taken the antidote." I explained.

"That' perfect Max." Mom said, giving me a hug. "I get started on them right away." She then went to the cupboard and started to get the ingredients out.

"See Max? That's why you're the leader. You quick wit is what always saves you, and you're finally starting to see the big picture." Jeb said with a smile.

"Jeb, not to rude and all since you're helping us, but you can take your whole saving the world agenda, and shove it." Ok, so it was rude, but I seriously didn't care.

"Max…" my mother warned in her motherly way. "I know you don't like it, but he's still your father, and you should respect him."

"It's fine Valencia." Jeb said, a smile on his face. "She's always been like this, and I wouldn't expect any less from her."

"Oh god." I said, getting up and walking into the living room. "Let me know when the cookies are ready. I'm gonna watch TV." I waddled (Yes, waddled. I am seriously thinking of abstaining for the rest of my life if this is what I'm gonna have to do every time I get pregnant. If Fang doesn't like it, well tough cookies for him) over to the couch, and turned the TV on, flipping through channel after channel, looking for something to watch on TV, but of course, there's nothing on at two in the afternoon on a Saturday.

As I flipped through them, I couldn't help but feel lonely on the couch. Normally, I would sit here and do this with Fang. When he was here, it wasn't as boring. Then again, I also wasn't pregnant, but that's beside the point. I could help thinking that him running away was my fault, and not Jeb's. Maybe if I had been more careful, or smart enough to know that he would go for a quick exit, I could have stopped it.

But I didn't. I let this happen. I drove Fang away. What if he didn't want to be with me anymore? What if we find him, but it's too late to save him? What if he doesn't want me anymore cause I'm fat from this stupid pregnancy? What if-

"Max?" I turned to see that Ella was standing in front of me, and had been calling my name. "Spacing again?" she guessed.

"Yea. Sorry. What's up?" I asked, trying to get all my negative thoughts out of my head.

"I was just thinking, how are we going to find Fang if we don't know where to look, or even have a picture of him as a kid?"

Well that sure as heck sucked the fun out of the room. I can't believe I never thought about that.

"We'll just have to hope that the Flock can find him." I said, letting out a sigh of defeat.

An hour later, the cookies were done, and they smelled delicious. If it weren't for the fact that I was pregnant, and already at my proper age, I would probably have stolen one of them for myself. "Hey guys." I said, walking into the room where the Flock was playing with some of Ella's old toys. "Snack time." I said with a smile on my face.

"Maxie got fat!" Iggy laughed as he pointed at my swollen stomach. I was starting to think that his mind wasn't really that of a child, and that he was faking it. I wouldn't put past him.

"Just shut up and eat your stinkin cookie." I said, trying to ignore the anger that was building up inside of me.

"Yay!" they all cheered as they surrounded me and started jumping up and down for a cookie. I passed one out to eat of them, and watched as the scarfed them down like nobody's business. In less than a minute after they had finished, they were all dropping like flies. I went over toeach of them, checking to make sure that they were really sleeping, and not dead. If they had died, I promise you, Jeb would die a horrible, painfully slow death.

Once I was done, I picked them up off the floor, and moved the girls to my room, and left the boys in their room. I figured, sure they would grow out of their clothes, it was better to move them now and avoid an awkward situation later. Speaking of which, I was going to have to get them some new clothes since, well, I kinda left their other ones on the floor of the hotel room. I could probably just have Mom take Ella, and have her do it. I hate shopping enough as is, and me being pregnant and having to be in a mall, well I can already tell you that it's not a good combination. Besides, I can probably get her to buy the baby some clothes too, so that'll just save me the trouble and stress of having to deal with her, Angel, and Nudge. Score!

I quietly closed the door, and walked down the hall to the kitchen. I needed a snack myself. Maybe some pizza with peanut butter and jelly on top. Man does that sound good. I strode past mom, and went straight for the fridge. I grabbed a couple of leftover slices of pizza, and ran over to the cupboard.

"Uh, Max?" Mom asked, looking at me with concern as I spread the peanut butter and jelly on my first slice. "Are you feeling ok?"

"Yea, fine. Just a little hungry. Why do you asked?" I said, mouth full of peanut buttery and jellified goodness. Yes, I said jellified. It's an actual word people!

"Well it's just, you put peanut butter and jelly on your pizza. Doesn't that seem a little strange to you at all?"

"No, not really?" I said, starting my third slice. As I was enjoying it, Ella came into the kitchen, took one look at my pizza, and started walking back up the stairs, muttering something about how normal families don't deal with stuff like this. Well in case she didn't notice, we're not the exact definition of normal. Actually, we're the exact opposite. It doesn't get anymore abnormal than us. Trust me, I've seen what the School can come up with, and none of it can compare to us. I mean that in a good 'we're stronger than them' way, and a 'kids with wings and superpowers? Doesn't get any freakier than that. Not even mutant wolf people'. Oh my god, I'm rambling. I'm turning into Nudge! Great. First it was an Eraser, and now it's Nudge. Next it'll probably be Iggy or the Gasman, or maybe even Total. God I hope I don't turn into Total.

"Well don't eat too much. Dinner's gonna be in about an hour, and we don't want you getting fat," Mom said with a grin.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh haha. Real funny Mom. In case you haven't noticed, I'm beyond fat."

"Well at least you didn't have to go through the whole nine months. In fact, you should be happy. You're baby will be here in less than a week."

"Yea…" but will I be celebrating, or mourning?

_**To Be Continued….**_

_**Ok, I'm not gonna lie, I literally pulled this chapter out of my ass. I didn't have anything that happened in this one planned out. I needed a filler chapter between this and them changing back to normal, and it wouldn't make much sense if I jumped from them finding the cure to them back to normal, now would it? No. no it wouldn't. Anyways, the next chapter will probably be an update on how Fang's doing, and maybe how the Flock's progress is going. If I don't do the flock, then the chapter after will be that, and reaction's to everything that has happened. I promise to update soon cause I'm on vacation! YEA!**_

_**Remember: Keep reading, writing, and reviewing!**_

_**Later! **_

_**-Dt2009 with Dark Blue Wings**_


	13. Chapter 12:New Discoveries

_**First, let me say that I'm sorry that it took so long to update. Second, let me say, I don't give a damn who you THINK you are, but go around telling me what the hell I have to do! I understand that I have stories that I have to update, but I also have a life, and other priorities, like SCHOOL! If I don't have the time to update, I don't want people going around telling me what the hell I need to do! I WILL UPDATE WHEN I CAN! **_

_**Thanks for reading, and for wait, and sorry it took so long.**_

Chapter 12: New Discoveries

**3****rd**** Person POV**

"There. Now that you're all clean, stay here." Melody said as she dropped Fang on his guest bed. "Why in the world where you in the attic anyway?"

"There was a window, and I wanna fry." He said, pouting and crossing his arms.

"Jeez," she said, rolling her eyes, and looking down at her wet clothes and hair. "I can't believe you freaked out all cause I tried to wash your wings." She said as she started to ring her hair out. Fang continued to sit there silently, pouting at her. Melody noticed this, and let out a small sigh. "What's wrong?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I no like it here. I wanna go home." He grumbled.

"I know you do, but we still haven't found out where you live, and no one's come to claim you yet. You'll just have to be patient. Ok?" She said, slowly moving a piece of his hair out of his face.

"Ok…" he said, looking down at the cast on his leg that continued to bother him.

"I promise, as soon as we find something out, we'll let you know. But for now, we have to get you dressed. We've got to get my puppy to the vet."

"What that?" he asked, cocking his head to one side.

"It's a doctor for animals. My puppy needs to get a check up, so we have to take him to see his doctor."

"I no want to go to see doctor." Fang said, shaking with fear at the very thought of anyone in a white coat getting near him with a needle.

"Don't worry. We're not taking you to see the doctor. We're taking my puppy." She said, pointing to a small black Scottie that happened to trot into the room. "Ok?"

"Ok…" Fang said as he continued to eye the dog. _That doggie looks like Total…I miss Total, and Angel…and Gazzy…and Nudge and Iggy…and Maxie…_

**Max's POV**

It's only been a day since we gave the Flock the cookies. I'm hoping that this really does work. But of course that's not the only thing on my mind. I'm still super worried about Fang, especially since we only have a couple, well six, days until the expiration is supposed to kick in, and he'll die. And if that's not enough to worry about, I'm due in less than two weeks. That means that the babies gonna be here right after the Flock's expiration date is supposed to kick in. I can't imagine what I'll do if this doesn't work or if we don't find Fang. In fact, I'd rather not think about it.

So anyway, Ella forced me to go shopping with her today, using the excuse "Well you said you wanted to get the Flock some clothes, and that you were going to need some for the baby too, so you have to go. And plus, Mom has to work, so it has to be me and you." Can you believe that? She used my own excuse for not wanting to go to force me into going! Damn, she's crafty. She's definitely my sister.

So she got to drag me around the mall to shop for clothes for the Flock. I specifically told her too that if she suggested even one thing for me, I would put her diary on the internet. I know it's mean, but I seriously hate shopping…not that I would actually put her diary on the internet. I maybe harsh sometimes with the flock, but even I have some respect for other people's personal business.

While we were looking at some sweaters that Ella insisted that Nudge would need (more like that she would want if she say them), some girls from Ella's school walked into the store. Ella wasn't too happy bout that. When I asked her why, she said it was cause they were snobs, and always talking down about people, especially her cause apparently the head girl's, who's name is Michelle, boyfriend tried to hit on Ella, and she didn't take to well to that, and blamed Ella for it.

Then, when they saw me and Ella, they had the nerve to try and talk about her while I was standing there. So I went over to them, and told them to quit acting like bitches just cause her boyfriend finds Ella more attractive than a slut like her. Then, she tried to talk about me, saying that I was the slut cause I was pregnant, which if you were in my position, didn't really help my argument. Then she told me that if I didn't back off, she was gonna try and kick my ass. I told her that even though I'm pregnant, I could kick her butt so hard, she'd need the whole make-up department to cover it up.

Then, get this, she tried to hit me! Ella didn't like to much cause, she stepped in front of me, caught her hand, slapped her around a little, pulled her hair, turned her around, and literally kicked her ass! As she ran off, Ell called after her, yelling "If you ever disrespect me, my family, or ever even think of trying to hurt my sister again, I swear, I will kick your skinny toothpick ass so hard, you'll be bedridden for so long, they'll have to mail you your high school diploma!" Let me tell you, I was shocked for a couple of seconds. I didn't think Ella could fight, at all! When we told Mom the story, she thought it was really funny, and left for work.

Now we're at home, but since Mom had to go to work, we're stuck here with Jeb. I don't know why, I could just be paranoid like always, but every time I see him, he always looks at me with this guilty look on his face, like he's hiding something. Well if he is, I'm going to get to the bottom of this.

I dropped the bags on the couch, and was heading into the kitchen to speak with Jeb, when I heard a small, yet familiar voice.

"Max?" I turned around to see someone I wasn't expecting. And no, it wasn't Fang. It was Angel. And not little Angel, but normal, six year old Angel.

_Seven Max, I'm seven, remember?_

Sorry, seven year old Angel. Tears started building in my eyes as I ran up to her, and embraced her in a hug. "Angel…Oh my god, I'm so glad that you're ok." I said as the tears spilled over. I was so happy. This meant that the antidote worked, and that everything was going to be ok…well, almost everything.

"I'm fine thanks to you Max. You're the best Mom anyone could have, and I'm really sorry for how me, Gazzy, and Nudge acted back at the hotel last month." She said, whipping the tears away from my face. Unfortunately, hearing her say all that, made me cry even more.

"Thanks Angel."

"You're welcome. But, I was wondering if I could get my clothes now? It's kinda cold in here." I let her go to see that she was wrapped up in a towel.

I blushed in embarrassment as I realized that I hadn't even realized that she was naked. "Sorry bout that. Here" I said, handing her the bag with her clothes in it. "Go into Ella's room and get dressed. Is anyone else up yet?"

"Nope. Everyone else is still sleeping."

"Ok. You go get dressed. I need to talk to Jeb." I said, smoothing down he blonde curls.

"Ok." She said, wrapping me in a hug, and kissing my cheek before running off with her clothes. I turned back to see Jeb set his coffee mug down.

"So, what is it that you wish to talk to me about Max?" he asked nonchalantly.

"First of all, how is it that Angel is back to normal already? I thought it took three days for it to be complete?" I asked, sitting across from him.

"I'm not exactly sure on this, but I have a theory. It could be cause her body is smaller since she's still a child."

"Care to elaborate?" I said, rolling my eyes.

"Well I think that because she was changed into an infant from a child, it didn't take long for her body to progress to the right age."

"So what you're saying is that the older you are the long it takes to change back?"

"Well yes and no. Age may not be the only factor in the equation. Other things may affect it too, such as height. For example, if you and Iggy both were changed back to the same point, even though you are older than he is, because he is so much taller then you, it could take longer for his body to progress to the correct point."

"Will he get his sight back?" I'm really hoping so. That something that'd make Iggy happier than anything else.

"I'm not sure. Since he was changed back to a point that was before his surgery, it's possible, but since he'll be progressing back to the way things are, it may not. We'll have to wait and see." He said, chuckling to himself.

"Nice pun." I said sarcastically. "Anyway, I have another question: Why do you keep looking at me with this guilty look on your face?"

Jeb closed his eyes, and let out a deep sigh. That can't be good. "I guess it's best if you knew the truth…"

"Truth about what?" I asked cautiously.

"The truth is…Fang…didn't impregnate you…" he said in a low voice that forced me to use my rapture hearing to hear.

"What are you talking about? We had sex three times, and…" I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was dead serious. "That cant be…"I whispered looking down at my stomach.

"I'm so sorry Max. I really wish that it hadn't happened like it did, or at all for that matter."

"Explain, NOW!" I shouted, looking up at him. This, unfortunately, cause the baby to kick me, sending a wave of pain to my stomach.

"Do you remember the last time you were all captured at the School?"

"Sure I do. How could I forget when it was-" I paused at I realized the time frame of the events. "four months ago…"

"That's correct. And it was…"

"Right after Fang and I had sex for the second time…the same time we used the condom Iggy had. Which means…" I stopped as I choked out a sob from deep within my throat. I didn't want to believe that it was true, but the evidence was building up right before me. "…that…if we used the condom, I couldn't have gotten pregnant that way." I couldn't take my eyes off my swollen stomach as the tears continued to fall from my eyes. This wasn't Fang's baby…The School…"How…" I could even finish the sentences that plagued my mind. "Why…"

"The School had been planning to attack you all for a while. But then they decided that it was better to test your mothering skills. Some of the scientist suggested that it was best to capture you and force you to mate with Fang or Iggy, producing a child to test you, and if need be, to experiment on. I protested the idea, telling them that you already play the role of a parent for them, but they still wanted to go through with it. I told them that you weren't ready for that big a responsibility so early on and…" he stopped talking, and looked down at his hands.

"And what?" I questioned, afraid of his answer.

"…Suggested the use of the gas on the Flock."

I looked at him in utter shock and aw. He was the one to suggest the use of that stupid gas that got us into this mess in the first place! This was all his fault! And he expected me to trust him! I stood up, and slammed both my hands down on the table angrily. My teeth were clenched together in a tight line, my blood was boiling with anger, and all I saw was red.

"YOU DID THIS!?" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

"Yes, and I'm very sorry, but the pregnancy didn't seem like the best thing for any of you, especially when you still have to save the world."

"Are you fucking kidding me!? I would rather have to carry around ten kids then have to put the Flock in danger like this!" I was beyond pissed as you can see by my choice of words; regards of the fact that I knew Angel could hear me right now. "And, if you were going to use the stupid gas on the Flock, why the hell am I pregnant right now, carrying around some guy's kid!? I don't even know who the father is! Let me guess, you thought it would be interesting to see what an Eraser and my DNA would be like mixed, right?"

"Calm down Max. You know who the father is."

"Don't give me anything of that fortune cookie crap Jeb. I want to know who it is, and I want to know now!"

"Max. It's Fang. Fang's the father."

"What!? You just sat there and told me he didn't get me pregnant! How can he still be the father!?"

"He didn't get you pregnant, but it is his child. They used his DNA. When they were tracking you all, they kept a surveillance on you. That's how they knew that you had sex with Fang. When they found out that you did it just a couple of days before they captured you, they figured that that was the perfect way to trick you into thinking he got you pregnant. That's the reason that they used his DNA of another specimen's. Since you only had sex with him, it would play out into their favor.

"When I found out that they went through with this, even though they were over ruled, and undermined my direct orders, I got the information on it after you left. Since I was too late to stop either plan from taking place, I decided to fly out here, using the voice to convince you to fly out here, and meet up with your mother. I knew that the aging problem was my fault, and since I couldn't stop the pregnancy or the effects of the gas, I knew I had to help you, but also knew that if I had told you all of this when you originally got here, that you wouldn't trust me. I'm sorry for all of this and all the deception, but it was necessary."

"So Fang _is _the father of the baby, right?" I asked, just for clarification.

"Yes." He said, a smile playing at his lips.

I sat there, and started crying tears of joy. Fang was still the father, and the Flock was turning back to normal. I was still extremely pissed off at Jeb, especially since this was all his fault, but I was also happy to see everything was finally starting to play out into my favor. And to make things even better, my baby girl was going to be here with me soon. The only way this day could get better is if I knew where Fang was. But we can't have everything we ask for, now can we?

I was brought back into reality by the sound of the phone ringing. "I got it!" Ella shouted as she ran through the living room to get the phone. "Hello? Yea, sure, hold Mom. Max!" she called into the kitchen. "It's Mom. She said it's urgent, and that she needs to tell you something that can't wait."

I got up from the table, whipped my eyes, and took the phone from her. "Hello?"

"Max, it's me."

"Mom, what's wrong? Ella said you said it was urgent. Are you ok?" I asked, concern in my voice.

"I'm fine, and it is urgent. I have good new; I know where Fang is!"

I nearly dropped the phone and had a heart attack. Had my prays be answered? "What!?"

_**To be continued. Ok, so now it's getting good. Got all the background info on how and why this all happened in the first place, the progress on the Flock has started and is obvious that the antidote works cause Angel is back to normal, and, in a nice little twist, Fang has been found, at last! Originally, I was gonna stop before the long talk Max has with Jeb, but since I hadn't updated in a while, and cause I felt bad (and a little bored), I kept it going, and combined the parts. And let me tell you, it's long! SO I hope you're enjoying yourself.**_

_**And P.S: to all of the Fangirls who think that just cause they know where Fang is, that they can just go and get him back, you're wrong. Now where's the fun in that if I just go and let the Flock get him back without any complications? None, that where…lol**_

_**Remember: Keep reading, writing, and reviewing!**_

_**Later!**_

_**-Dt2009 with Dark Blue Wings **_


	14. Chapter 13: We Found Fang!

Chapter 13: We Found Fang!

"I had just finished giving one of dog patients a check up and was taking him out to his owner, when I could have sworn I had seen a child that looked exactly like Fang. I wasn't quite sure since he wasn't wearing anything black, and I didn't want to call his name out, knowing how you're all still in danger from the School. But as he was walking out of the building, I say a black feather drop out from the back of his white t-shirt. After that, I knew it was him, and that I had to call you." Mom explained to me, Ella, Angel, and Gazzy as we sat around the table eating. Gazzy had just woken up about two hours ago, and we were trying to fill him in on everything that's been happening since the hotel incident.

"I can't believe we actually found Fang!" I said over the ravenous crunching and munching of tacos that Mom had made for Angel and Gazzy, who apparently were catching up on all the lost meals from the past 3 weeks.

"Wa shoe no hit khim." Gazzy said, mouth full of tacos.

"Swallow your food first Gazzy." Mom said sternly.

"Sorry." He said, swallowing. "I said we should go get him, as in ASAP!"

"Well we can't just go and get him. We have to come up with a plan on how to convince him to come back. After that whole needle thing with Jeb, it could be a little tricky." I said.

"Well whatever it is that you come up with, you will have part in Maximum Ride." Mom said in a stern, motherly tone.

"And why wouldn't I?" I asked in a duh tone.

"Max, you're due in a couple of days. You could go into labor at anytime. We're going to wait until Nudge and Iggy are back to normal tomorrow, and then we'll think up a way to get Fang back."

"I got it!" Ella exclaimed excitedly. "Look at this."

We all looked down at the newspaper she was holding to see it open to the lost child section. And right there, was a picture of Fang. It had his name listed as Nick, the address where he was currently staying, a brief description of him, and ways of contacting the family he was with.

"This is perfect. Now that we know where he is, all we gotta do is go and get him back." I said, getting a round of head nods from everyone. So far, this was working out great in my favor, and I was really hoping that nothing would ruin it.

Unfortunately, the universe hates me, and it will do anything and everything it can to screw mw over.

"What this I hear about you finding Fang?" Jeb asked walking into the kitchen. "How?"

"There's an ad in the newspaper." Ella said, pointing to it.

Jeb examined it for a minute, but showed no actual expression of joy or surprise what so ever. "I see. Well that is a good stroke of luck, isn't it? So what exactly do you plan to do to get him back? I highly doubt he's going to just come back without a bit of a struggle. You know how stubborn he can be."

"I know all of that, thank you." I said in a low, annoyed tone, wishing he would just disappear of the face of the earth.

"Well if there's anything I can do to help-"

"Thanks, but I think you've done enough" Mom said, surprising us all. "And actually, after talking with the kids, I think it would be best if you left. I mean with the whole needle incidednt, and Max due in a few days, all this stress isn't good for her. And if Fang where to see you, he may try to run again, and with it being so close to the expiration date from the gas, well, we definitely don't want a repeat of what happened last time. You understand."

Jeb stood there, slightly bewildered for a moment, before recomposing himself, and nodding. "Yes, well I see. I'll go pack my things, and be on my way then." He said, walking out of the room.

I turned to Mom and stared for a moment before shouting, "Mom, that was amazing! How did you do that!?"

"Years of working with people and animals, you learn how to sugar code things when necessary." She said with a smile. "It's no big deal."

"Oh, I disagree." I said, laughing my head off, which caused everyone else to as well. After the laughter calmed down, I became serious again. "But tomorrow, we're going to get Fang. We can't afford to screw this up guys." I said, eyeing Gazzy and Angel who both had a look of determination, and seriousness on their faces. I nodded, then turned to look at my mother, praying she would listen to my plea just this once. "Mom.." I said, looking her straight in the eye, "I have to go with them to get Fang. I don't know what will happen, or how he'll react to seeing me, but…I have to try. Please? I need to be there for whatever happens."

She looked at me for a minute, before letting out a deep sigh. "I know that look. I've seen used it hundreds of times on my parents, and Ella has been known to use it on me from time to time. And even if I say no, you're going to go anyway."

"What makes you think-"

"You're Maximum Ride. When was the last time you ever actually listened to anyone with authority over you?" Gazzy said, laughing at me. I angrily turned and glared at him, causing the laughter to stop, and him to sink in his chair. "Oh, uh…sorry." He said sheepishly.

"Ok Max. You can go with them to get Fang. Just be careful, ok?" she asked, tilting my chin up so I was looking up at her.

"Ok Mom." Said with a smile.

"Ok. Now that that is settled, bed time, everyone." She said, standing, and clearing the table of the dishes.

"Oh come on. Do we have to?" Gazzy whined, Angel nodding her head in agreement.

"Yes. I've already let you two stay up way past your bed time, so get going." She said.

"Oh man. This is so lame." Gazzy mumbled as they made their way up the stairs. I rolled my eyes, and returned my dishes to the sink as well. After everything was cleaned, Ella and I wished Mom good night, and headed to our rooms for bed.

The next morning, I was up a little earlier than usual, but still not as early as Mom, who apparently had breakfast started. I walked into the kitchen, said good morning to her, and helped with breakfast (and before anyone says anything, I didn't actually make any of the food, I just set the table, so I don't wanna hear it! I know I can't cook!). After I was done with that, I went to wake the others up. I started off with Ella since she was usually up by now anyway, then moved on to Gazzy, who was in the hall and apparently having trouble finding his left boot, claiming that it was probably downstairs and that Magnolia had it. I rolled my eyes and headed to Angel and Nudge's room.

I opened to door quietly and found that both girls were still sleeping. I walked over to Angel's bed, and softly shook her awake. Her eyes fluttered open for a quick second before they locked on me. "Good morning Max." she said, smiling happily at me.

"Morning sweetie. Breakfast in ten. How's your roommate feeling?" I asked, pointing to the other bed that had a balled up figure in the middle, covered in blankets.

Angel started giggling a little before answering, "She's got a headache, and wants to know why it's so cold in here." I giggled at this, and told her to leave Nudge to me while she got dressed. "Ok." She said, hopping out of her bad, and skipping down the hall to the bathroom.

I walked over to the Nudge's bed, and yanked the blankets clear off her. My only response was a groan. I rolled my eyes. She was never really a morning person. "Hey sweetie, up and at'em."

"No…"she said turning away from me. "And why is it so cold in here?"

I had to try to stifle my laugh as I told her the reason why. "Because you're naked."

Her eyes shot open so fast, I thought they were going to shoot out of her sockets like rockets. She looked herself up and down before shrieking, "Why am I naked!?" and snatching the blankets back from me.

Before I could stop laughing so hard and answer her, the Gasman ran in.

"What's going on!? What happened!?" he asked, panicky.

Nudge screamed even louder, if that's even possible. "Gazzy, get the hell out, NOW!" she screamed, covering herself with the blanket.

Gazzy looked at her for a second before his face turned red and he covered his eyes. "Sorry!" he said, turning and running out of the room.

As soon as he was gone, I started laughing so hard, I had to hold onto the bed post just to keep from falling over laughing. "Max! This isn't funny!" Nudge yelled, her face blood red from embarrassment.

"Yea it is. If you hadn't started screaming like you were being stabbed to death, the Gasman wouldn't have run in here."

"Whatever." She said annoyed by my teasing. "Can you please find me something to wear?"

"Here." I said, handing her the bag with her clothes in it. "Breakfast in ten. I'll explain everything there." I said, walking out of the room. As I was though, I noticed that she was wearily looking in the bag of clothes. I rolled my eyes, called out "Ella picked them out."

"Oh, ok!" she said excitedly, searching vigorously thorough them.

I closed the door behind me, and head down to the boy's room to get Iggy. As I passed her room, eElla poked her head out the door. "What was all that screaming about?"

"Nudge just woke up, and you know how she's not a morning person?"

"Yea?"

"Well throw the fact that she just woke up naked on top of that."

"Oh. I see." She said, nodding her head. "Ok, well hurry and get Iggy so we can eat." She said, walking down the hall.

"Yea, that's why you want me to get him. Does Mom know about your boyfriend yet?" I asked, causing her to turn and glare at me.

"He's not my boyfriend." She said, stomping her feet angrily down the stairs like an angry four year old.

I chuckled and walked into the room to find Iggy covering his head with a pillow. "What's with all the screaming?" he groaned.

"Nudge just woke up. A lot has happened the last couple of weeks."

"So I noticed," he said, sitting up. "Hey, can I get like a robe or something?"

"Here," I handed him his bag of clothes. "Hope you like'em."

"Thanks. I'm sure they're fine." He said, groggily and uncaringly.

I knew something was up, and I was gonna find out what. "Ok, spill. What's up?"

"I was thinking about all this crazy stuff that must have happened. I was also thinking about when we were back at the hotel, and how you told us we were kids again, and…" he mumbled the last part.

"What?"

"How I could see again…" he said a little louder.

"Oh. Yea." I said. That's when I noticed he hadn't opened his eyes yet.

"What do you think is going to happen?" he asked me.

"I'm not sure. I asked Jeb-"

"Wait, that bastard's here!?" he asked angrily.

"Not anymore. I'll explain during breakfast. But…he said…he wasn't sure what would happen. He said that because you were reverted back to an age before the operation, it may come back. But then he said that because you would all be returning to normal, there's a possibility it may not. But we won't know unless you open your eyes and try."

"But Max…" he still kept them closed, "I'm scared. What if it didn't work? I may be like this forever…" he said sadly as a tear rolled down his cheek.

Instinctively, I wiped the tear away. I hated seeing Iggy like this, and the last time was back in Virginia when we thought we had found his home, but it was just a shop, and he wasn't moving when the police were coming. I only wished I knew a better way to console him, but what could I do. I mean he's like my little brother. He has his moments where he's annoying as hell, and other's where he's like a lost little kid, and I hated seeing him like this.

"Iggy…"

"Yea?" he said, sniffling a little.

"Just…open your eyes…"

_**To be continued….**_

_**Ok, so, I felt really bad it took so long to update, that I worked super hard on this one, and I came up with an idea for a new story about Angel. But unfortunately, I'm kinda afraid to post it cause of the reaction I may get from people. It involves her being a mom, cause no one ever makes her a mom, but it's kinda bad because of what happens in the rest of the story. But, I will put it up, and we'll see what feedback we get. It's called **__Baby Angels__**.**_

_**So watch out for that!**_

_**Remember: Keep reading, writing, and reviewing!**_

_**Later!**_

_**-Dt2009 with Dark Blue Wings**_


	15. Chapter 14: Moving Out

Chapter 14: Moving Out

"Max can you pass the salt and pepper?" Iggy asked, stuffing another strip of bacon in his mouth.

"Sure. Here," I said, passing them over to him.

"Thanks. So," he stopped briefly to swallow, "what's the plan, all mighty leader?"

"I say we just go there tonight and sneak in through the window," Gazzy chimed in, his eyes glistening with excite as his mind formulated an idea. "We can put on all black, and put face paint on, and go all commando super spy!'

"Interesting thought, but, no. We're not breaking into anyone's house unless it's absolutely necessary," I replied with a smile. "No, we're just going to have my mom drive us over there, and answer the ad. We'll tell them that he ran away, get Fang back, give him the antidote, and get everything back to normal."

"Ugh. That's so boring!" Gazzy complained, sloughing in his chair.

"I know Gaz, but this is the best way to do it. Tell you what, when this is all over, you and Iggy can set off some homemade fireworks to celebrate."

"Alright!" he cheered, pumping his fist into the air.

"Do you really think getting Fang back from them is really going to be that easy?" Nudge asked while she ran a brush through her hair, desperately trying to get the knots out.

"Well, it may be difficult to convince them that we're his family, but as soon as Fang sees us, he'll be happy and will be more then glad to come home. Besides, when has lying ever been a problem for us?" I asked, looking at everyone. I stopped when I got to Iggy, seeing he had his eyebrow raised at me. "What?" I questioned, getting slightly annoyed.

"Max, what have you been smoking, and where can I get some?" he wiped his mouth and hands before continuing. "Do you honestly believe that it's going to be that easy to just walk up the porch, ask for Fang, and have everything be "A Okay"?"

"Well…yea. I kinda did. Why not?"

"Did you ever stop to think this could be a trap?" he asked, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair. "What if the School's just trying to flush us out by pretending they have him? What if Jeb's the one who put that ad in the paper? What if they're just trying to use Fang to get to us while our two best fighters are out of commission?"

Ok, to be honest, I hadn't really thought about that. Lately I've been more preoccupied with everything else like getting them all back to normal. But that doesn't mean that I was just gonna let Iggy be a smart ass and get away with it. That's not the Max way, and the fact that my emotions are even more out of whack because of the pregnancy hormones was just going to make it worse for him.

"So, what, are you saying we shouldn't go? That we shouldn't even check to see it's its legitimate?" I questioned as I feel my blood starting to boil from anger.

"No, that's not what I'm saying. What I am saying is that we need to careful, especially you."

"And what exactly is that supposed to me?" I demanded.

"Max, in case you haven't notice or are just brain dead, YOU'RE PREGNANT! And due in a matter of days! If we get ambushed, you're a sitting duck, and we'd be screwed beyond belief! Think about it!" Iggy shouted, standing to his feet and slamming his hands on the table. Iggy's never been one to challenge me when it came to things like this. In fact, no one has, not even Fang. The Flock knew that when Max made an order, you'd best do it unless you wanted to be on the wrong end of a serious butt kicking.

My face must have been redder then a tomato because I was ready to kill Iggy. Here he was, undermining me in front of the rest of the Flock. If he was nervous, he was hiding it well.

I feel my nostrils flaring as I tried to keep my cool and not grab the nearest object I had to hit him with. In my peripheral, I saw Nudge as she rushed Angel and the Gasman outside, not wanting them to be there with all the tension that was going on, just in case it got bad. Smart girl because I was ready to send a stream of curse words so bad, it would probably kill some poor old person if they heard them.

"Ok. So I hadn't thought everything out."

"Phff, nothing new there, right Max?" Iggy said, rolling his eyes.

I clenched my fist a couple of times, wishing I had one of those stress balls Ella was telling me about. "Listen Iggy," I said, standing to my feet and grabbing a hold of his shirt. "Don't think just because I'm pregnant that I won't get and kick your ass. I'm not in the mood for your smart mouth. I understand where you're coming from, but let me explain to _you_ what the last couple of weeks have been for me. I've been running around, trying to help mom and Jeb come up with an antidote to save you guys. I've been trying to keep all of you well fed and protected, by myself. I am walking around with a kid, in my stomach, who is now doomed to deal with all this bullshit that we call a life. I have gone through more than any teenager ever should and in half the time. I've experienced pregnancy at an accelerated rate, and I'm not even fifteen yet. And then, when things start to get better, when I finally feel like maybe, just maybe, my life is going to get better, you come in here, undermining my leadership over some details that I've over looked?" I shout in his face as I let the tears flow freely. "Well you know what? That's just too bad, isn't it?" I said, letting him go and falling back into my chair where I proceeded to ball up and cry. I hate being pregnant.

"Max, I-" he stuttered, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, I-I…I just…I guess I just forgot. It's just…all of this is so frustrating, and seems like it's too good to be true. I guess, it's just that, I'm scared about something happening to you. To Fang. To all of us. And trust me, I'm the last one to be talking about over looking things. I was barely able to handle it when it was just me and Gazzy when they had captured Angel. I was pissed you left us, sure. But I was scared. I was scared that, if they attacked, and I didn't think, that something was going to happen to Gazzy. If it did, I'd never be able to forgive myself." He stopped and walked over, wrapping me in a tight hug.

"I don't know how you and Fang do it. It's like you've got it down perfectly."

"That's because I always had Fang there to help me," I sniffled. "Whenever I planned something, if I overlooked or forgot something, Fang was always there to remind me. When we had split up the Flock and you guys left, it was hard trying to only have to worry about Nudge, Angel, Total and Ari. You guys were always on my mind, and whenever we were setting up camp or flying, I would always look back, expecting you guys to be there, but you weren't. After that, I vowed I'd never lose sight of you guys again. Then this all happens, and I lose a Fang. I'm a horrible leader."

"Max, shut up, ok?" Iggy said, grabbing my face and forcing me to look at him. "The way you're talking right now, you don't sound anything like Maximum Ride. You need to get your head in the game, and get over all that stuff that happened. Yea, you overlooked stuff. Big deal. You're the leader of the Flock. You have to put up with a lot more than any of us do, just so that we don't have to worry about it. You're the greatest leader, mother, and sister any of us could ever ask for."

I stared at him for a couple of seconds before I let a smile come to my face. "Thanks Ig."

"Well, someone's gotta cheer you up since Fang's not here," he chuckled. "But Max," he said, all seriousness coming back to his voice.

"Yea?"

"I need you to promise me something."

"Um…ok. What is it?"

"…If this whole thing turns out to be a trap, promise me you won't try to stay and fight."

My breath caught in my throat. Did he really just ask me to do what I knew was impossible?

"Iggy, I-"

"Max. Just, promise me you won't fight. I know that that seems like its not possible for you, but I need you to do this. If anything, I want you to grab your mom, Angel and the Gasman, and get out of there. If I can hold them off, I'll send Nudge with you too, but I can't promise anything about her or me for that matter. I'll fight them off as long as I can, but you need to take the time I give you to run. I'd never forgive myself if something happened to you or the baby, and I know Fang would never forgive me either. Please, promise me, and mean it, Max."

I stayed silent, letting more tears run down my face. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Iggy had just told me, plain and simple, that he was going to sacrifice himself to save all of us so that I could run away like a coward. I couldn't do it. I couldn't lie to him. I've never lied to him before when it came to important things like this, and I wasn't going to start now.

"Iggy…I…I can't promise you that I won't do anything. I can't just let you get yourself killed like that. I understand that you want me to protect the others and be sure that everyone is safe, but that includes you. But, I will make you a promise. If you promise me that if it's a trap, and you or any of the others stay behind, that you will get out of there, all of you, alive, and make it back to me, than I won't fight. Deal?"

Iggy smiled a small smile before hugging me again. "Deal. I'll do all I can to make it back in one, still breathing piece."

I laughed at this. "Good because if you don't, you're gonna have hell to pay cuz I'll bring you back and kill you myself."

"I'd take that over your cooking any day. I feel bad for that kid right now. Actually, I feel bad for everyone in the Flock. If you're gonna be cooking, everyone's gonna starve before they can track you ad find you."

And of course, Iggy always knows how to take a really sweet, sentimental moment, and ruin it. Of course, I do too. I grabbed my glass of orange juice off the table, and poured it all over his head.

"Hey!" he shouted, wiping juice from face as it dripped from his hair. "What the heck Max?"

"Oops. Sorry. You know pregnant girls; hormones and all that."

"Jee, that's such a great excuse," he said as he rolled his eyes and headed for the stairs. "I'm gonna go take my _second_ shower of the day. Just remember Max," he said, turning around toward me. "You've just started a war that you can't possibly win." He then proceeded to make his way up the stairs.

"Yea, I'll remember that," I said as I attempted to soak up the remaining juice from the table and floor.

"What happened to Iggy?" Ella asked as she walked into the kitchen to pout herself a glass of orange juice.

"I dumped a glass of orange juice on him."

"…Why?" she asked slowly, looking at me suspiciously.

"We were having a sentimental moment and he ruined it, so I dumped it on him."

"Oookay. Well, in that case, I'm gonna go watch TV before you decide to hit me with a frying pan or something."  
I rolled my eyes. "Yea, you do that," I called after her just as my mom walked into the kitchen, groceries in hand.

"Max, why did were Nudge, Angel and the Gasman outside, looking terrified for their lives, and why did Nudge just warn me that World War 3 or a bloody massacre was going on in my kitchen? And why is there orange juice everywhere?"

"I don't know. I think she's being over dramatic. And as for the juice, Iggy spilled it all over the floor."

"No I didn't!" He yelled from the bathroom. "Your daughter has no sense of humor. And that was before the pregnancy, which also, is not a reason to pour juice on my head!"

Stool pigeon. No pun intended.

My mom let out a small sigh with a smile. "What am I gonna do with you?"

"Make me and your grandchild a special batch of cookies?" I suggested with a smile. We both staretd laughing as she started to put the groceries away. Though, I was series about those cookies.

"Maybe later, after we get Fang back."

"Deal."

30 minutes later, we were all gathered in the living room, finalizing our plan.

"Ok. When we get there, stay close and stay together." I instructed. "We'll all walk up to the door together. When we get there, stay alert, but nobody make any sudden or suspicious movements. We don't wanna cause a panic."

"Right." They all chimed together.

"Nudge?" Iggy called from his seat. "I want you to stay close to me. If this turns out to be a trap, I want you there to help me, but if I tell you to get out of there, you go. No arguing, no backtracking, just go."

"Ok…ok," she whispered, looking uncertain about the whole situation.

" Gazzy, I want you to watch out for Max. I want you to get her out of there safe and sound. If something happens to me and Nudge, you're gonna have to be the protector of the Flock. You're gonna be the man of the group, got it?"

"Sir, yes sir," he said, saluting Iggy the best he could, trying to put on a brave face.

"Angel, I want constant surveillance. If you suspect anything, let us know," I said.

"Right!"

"Also, it's gonna be your job to get Dr. Martinez out of there if anything happens," Iggy added.

"Alright people. We don't know what we're up against or what we'll see. But what we do know is that when we get there, we Fang might be there. We need to get there, get this done, and get him out as fast as we can so we can get him the antidote. Don't make stupid mistakes. We can't risk them. Got it?" I got a simple nod from everyone. "Alright. Mom, we're ready when you are."

"Alright. Let's get going," she said, opening the front door, all of us filing out behind her. The Flock opted to fly while I rode with my mom. I made sure they stayed in view by checking my mirror every couple of minutes. It was a quiet car ride. We were both too nervous about this to be excited. When we arrived, the Flock was on the roof, scouting for anything strange. Soon as they figured everything was ok, they all dropped down, hiding their wings in the process.

"You ready for this?" Iggy asked from behind me.

"About as ready as I'm ever gonna me."

"Yea. It'll be nice to have Fang back. Even if he is all quiet and emo."

I smiled a little at his joke. "You know when he's back to normal he's gonna kick your butt for callin him emo."

"Well at least now I'll be able to see his punches coming for me."

"Not if he's blending into his surroundings," I said, grabbing a hold of the railing and ascending the stairs.

"Great. Now I gotta worry about that too," he said, rolling his eyes.

I smiled, turning toward the door. This was it. Either we were going to find Fang or it was all going to be for nothing. I turned around to look at the Flock and my mom one or time before ringing the doorbell.


End file.
